Colin Well: The Wizard
by Jordan Armes
Summary: All Rights to Angie Sage. Colin Well is stuck selling bread for the rest of his life with his obnoxious stepfather, until one day, he finds out a terrible secret and his adventure begins―meeting new people and doing things he never thought he'd do. Can he save the Castle? Or will it be overrun by bandits and pirates?
1. Prologue

The Port Witch Coven were longing for someone―anyone . They hadn't had anyone come to their door in a very long time. Fortunately for them, Colin Well was sent to their door, just as they were getting ready to go find someone. Colin was 8 years old and his step-father, Barnaby Stool, had sent him out onto the street they lived on in The Port with the bread cart. Barnaby's profession was selling his baked bread. The bread was great, but the man who made it wasn't so appealing to the customers. Colin's mother, Dot Well, had left Barnaby when he was only 5. Colin had no idea where his mother had went and since his father had died when he was a baby, he only had his step-father left. Barnaby was loud, obnoxious, and rude. Several times, when he refused to do what he told him, Barnaby had hit Colin.

As Colin pushed the bread cart up to the next house, he had no idea that the Port Witch Coven lived there. He was about to grab the knocker on the door, but insted he got a surprise. His hand closed around a toad and he screamed so loud the people at the docks must have heard him. The door was thrown open and a woman stood in doorway. The Witch Mother saw the boy was by himself. Then she looked behind him and saw a cart with loaves of bread stacked up on it.

"Yes?" The Witch Mother asked, adjusting her black robes.

Colin wrinkled his nose. This woman smelled of cat poo and dead animals. But he had to be polite because he was a salesboy. He stood up straight and began saying the Bread Verse:

"Hello, how do you do?

I am here to serve bread through and through!

Although you may not see,

This bread's taste will fill you with glee.

So, buy some, buy some please!

I represent the Port Bread Company!"

The Witch Mother was looking at Colin in horror. Who would think up something so wretched? And about bread? The Witch Mother loved bread, but this boy made her not want to eat it. Then she realized this boy was helpless and alone. So she changed what snide comment she was going to make into a more loving voice, "My dear boy. Thank you for coming! Would you like to come inside? It's awfully cold out here."

Colin looked around confused. It wasn't cold. It was the end of summer. Again, he realized he had to be nice to the customers, "I would love to, ma'am," he said kindly.

"You can leave the cart out here, no one will take it," The Witch Mother purred.

Colin thought that this was perfect place for someone to take something. But he left the cart by the door and walked over the threshold. The room was dim and he couldn't see very far ahead of him. The door slammed behind him, rattling a dusty painting on the wall. The Witch Mother's voice behind Colin whispered, "Let us walk."

Colin walked straight forward, not knowing where he was going. Then he realized something. If the bread cart was outside, how could he sell bread? He also thought that maybe he should go back outside, it seemed like the best idea. There was dust everywhere and the walls where plastered with dirt and cracks. He realized the Witch Mother was blocking the way out.

Suddenly in front of him he saw a table with another woman sitting at it. Her head looked huge and it was covered with a black cloth. The Witch Mother reached around Colin and lit a few candles. She froze, looking at Colin, then her face twisted into an evil grin, "You're Colin Well, aren't you?"

Colin stopped walking to the table, "How do you know my name?"

"You said you sell bread, of course. There is only one person who makes bread that smells like that. Stool," The Witch Mother explained a little suspiciously, Colin thought.

"What are you talking about?" the woman sitting at the table blurted out. The cloth fell off her head and suddenly, Colin realized why her head looked so large. Instead of human ears, she had elephant ears. Colin held down a another scream, "Barnaby Stool is a disgusting man! Who's this boy? He's walking all over the new rug! Get him out!"

"Dorinda, I'll have you remember your place. You will not talk to me like that!" The Witch Mother replied angrily.

"But if he's here, he won't be leaving!" argued Dorinda.

"Shut up now, Dorinda, or those ears won't be the only elephant parts you'll have!" The Witch Mother screamed at Dorinda. She pointed to her nose and glared at her, "Now. Colin, dear. We are so pleased to have you! Now it's time we feed you!"

The Witch Mother scurried off to what looked like a kitchen. Dorinda glared at Colin. He stared right back at her ears, "Do you enjoy your life, boy?" Dorinda hissed.

"What?" Colin started, but was cut off by The Witch Mother entering the room. He stared in horror at what was on a leash behind her. It was a huge hairy, dog-shaped monster with fangs as long as Colin's arm.

"Say hello to Fifi, Colin!" The Witch Mother cackled, "I said I'd feed you! I didn't say what to!" Dorinda and The Witch Mother laughed, "Dorinda, grab the boy!"

Dorinda lunged at Colin and grabbed his jacket. He kicked her in the shin and ran back the way he came through the darkness. Ahead, he could see the painting that was by the door. Suddenly, the front door burst open and a plump man wearing a hat said, "Hello, my boy! Is this your cart?"

Colin took his only chance and pushed past the man who was blocking the door. He heard the man fall down and The Witch Mother scream, "You'll end up just like your mother!" Colin didn't look back, but he ran all the way back to his house where he burst through the door and ran to his small bed. He thought over what The Witch Mother had said, "You'll end up just like your mother!"


	2. Chapter 1―Bread, Boats, and Bad Luck

Colin awoke in his bed with a start. He had just been dreaming of his mother. She was in a building, sitting on a chair―almost a throne. The floor was tiled with black and white stones and the chair was carved to look like a dragon. His mother had been crying, but he didn't know why.

Colin sat up in bed and hit his head on the ceiling. He groaned but continued to get out of bed. He pulled off the thin blanket that was covering him and swung his feet onto the cold stone floor. He looked around his cramped room. It was only big enough for his bed and a chest full of his clothes under his bed. Between his bed and the black door, was only about three feet of space. On his stone walls were pictures of his mother. He only had two but it made the room feel more comfortable to him. Colin's bed was tucked into a huge hole in the wall and the ceiling hung about three feet above him. He walked to the door and pushed it open.

"Colin? Get in here, now!" he heard his step-father, Barnaby, call from the kitchen. His house had three rooms, if you could include his cupboard as a room. The kitchen, Barnaby's room, and his. Colin walked down the hallway to the kitchen and saw his step-dad at the table.

"We're not having breakfast this morning. Get dressed, we're going down to the docks as soon as you get your clothes on," Barnaby rudely explained. He stood up and walked over to the huge oven where they baked the bread. He grabbed his oven glove and opened it. He pulled out three good looking loaves of bread. The smell made Colin's stomach rumble. Barnaby saw him looking at the bread and said, "You aren't eating until you sell the bread when we get to the docks."

"How much bread? How many loaves," asked Colin, turning to go back to his room.

"However many loaves I say is enough," Barnaby sneered.

Ten minutes later, Colin was standing outside his house with the bread cart by his step-father. They began walking down the street to the docks. Colin looked into the distance behind him and saw The Port Witch Coven's house. It loomed above the surrounding houses except the Doll House, the local inn. Colin shivered and pulled his jacket tighter. The Big Freeze was about to happen and it was already very cold. He had on a brown hide jacket with sheep's wool on the inside. His thick pants were pulled tight around his ankles by his worn leather boots. On his head he wore a hat that came down over his ears. In some places, his wavy blond hair stuck out at weird angles because he never combed it.

Once they had reached the docks, Colin followed Barnaby to their stand, "Set it up, boy," he ordered. Colin got to work by pulling out a white table cloth from the bread cart. He laid it across the stand's front table. Then he took out the bread that was wrapped in more white cloth. He laid out twenty loaves in all. Next he brought out the money box, "There," Colin said as he straightened the loaves of bread.

"Now I'm going to Bill's Bites to get my breakfast. If I come back and you haven't sold all the loaves, then you won't be getting any lunch," Barnaby spat out. He turned and walked away into the growing crowd of people, just starting to come to the docks. Colin slumped onto the stool by the table and waited for people to come by. After a few minutes, his first customer, a woman with two children, came up.

"Two loaves, please?" the woman asked in a very girly voice. Colin handed her two loaves and collected the money. He knew her because every week she would come buy two loaves of bread.

After half an hour, he had sold eleven loaves and he felt very proud. An old man came up with a cane. Colin saw that he had just come off of one of the ships, "Five. Set them here if you will," the man said in a singsong voice pointing to his basket that he set on the table. Colin presumed he was from The Land of the Long Nights. The man paid and left. At about Eleven, right before lunch, Colin had only one loaf left. He looked around at all the people in The Port. He loved living here because never, in his short eleven years of living, had he ever heard so many people. But he wanted to go to the Castle. He'd never been there, but he heard it was magnificent and had thousands of people.

Suddenly, Colin looked over and saw his step-father approaching. And Colin still had one loaf left. He started to panic because he was very hungry and he wanted lunch. But, suddenly his uncle was stopped by three burly looking men.

That gave Colin time to grab the bread. He took off running through the crowd of people, stopping to ask them if they would buy it. All of them declined, and he began to panic more. He ran into the Harbor and Dock Pie Shop. Colin frantically looked around and spotted someone who could help him. The girl he went to school with every week. She was his age and her name was Eliza Ellys. Eliza was sitting by the window, eating a pie with her brother, Andrew. He was 8 and he loved bothering Colin and Eliza when they were talking.

"Eliza! Hey!" Colin yelled across the shop. He ran over to their table.

"Colin, you're making a scene. Everyone is looking," whispered Eliza as Colin sat beside Andrew. He looked around and realized everyone in the Harbor and Dock Pie Shop were staring.

"Oh. Sorry, but I need you. This is very important, you have to buy my bread," Colin said.

"We do every week, Colin. My mom does. We just bought some a couple of days ago. We're fine," Andrew exclaimed loudly as he shoved a piece of pear pie into his mouth.

"Be quiet. Why? Is it important? I'll help you, but you have to do something in return," Eliza finished.

"Barnaby said I have to sell twenty loaves of bread by lunch time and if I don't I won't get lunch and he's on his way back and I still have one left. Please buy it, please," Colin pleaded.

"You must be hungry," Andrew said, licking his fingers.

"Yes I am. Eliza?" Colin looked at her.

"Okay, here," she handed him the money and snatched the loaf of bread, "But you have to do something for me."

"What?" Colin asked.

Eliza leaned in close to Colin and whispered, "Tonight at 12 meet me by the docks. There's something I want to show you."

"But-" Colin stopped himself. He was about to complain about getting by his step-dad, but he changed it to, "Of course. I'll be there. Thank you, by the way."

"I'm going," Andrew said.

"No you are not, Andrew," Eliza responded.

"If you don't let me go, I'll tell mom you're sneaking out at night," Andrew said as he smiled at Eliza.

Eliza sighed and said, "Okay, but you have to be silent and keep up."

Andrew nodded and finished the rest of his pie. A few seconds later, Colin was back at the bread stand with an empty table. He smiled as he put the money Eliza had given him into the money box. Barnaby finally walked up and looked at the white cloth.

"Good. Now, go get something to eat," Barnaby said as he handed Colin a small amount of money.

That night at 11:30, Colin put on his clothes. Quietly, he opened the door from his room and walked out. He looked down the hallway and saw Barnaby slumped over on the kitchen table, drunk and asleep. Colin padded over to the front door and opened it slowly. He had to be careful because the hinges on the door squeaked. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Colin turned around and the cold night air hit him like water. Over his jacket, he had thrown on a cloak just in case. As he started walking he pulled it closer to him. It was dark green with a hood. Near the docks, he slipped into the shadows of the buildings. He didn't want to be seen because there were theives and muggers in The Port. Colin looked out over the docks and at the end of a very short dock, he saw two small figures wrapped in black cloaks. The larger one turned around and saw him. Eliza waved at Colin, signaling him to come over to her.

Colin reached the end of the dock and met up with Eliza and Andrew, "Hi, Colin," Eliza said quietly, "We have to be quiet."

"I know. What did you want to show me?" Colin asked.

"Follow me, but be very quiet."

Colin followed Eliza and Andrew off the dock they were on onto another. This dock stretched out into the darkness and the end was unseen. Colin could hear the gentle lapping of the water against the posts holding up the dock. As they came closer to the end of the dock he thought it was becoming mysterious because he couldn't see anything. Finally they reached the end of the long dock and Colin saw what was so interesting. Looming over the surrounding ships was a big black ship with black sails.

"That's amazing, Eliza. It wasn't here this morning," Colin gasped.

"The past four nights I've come out here. It's only here at night and last night I went on board," Eliza explained.

"If you want me to go on board with you, I can't."

"Why?" asked Eliza.

"It's someone else's ship."

"So?"

"So, it's trespassing. You don't know who could be on that ship!" Colin hissed.

"Oh, come on. I practically bought you lunch today, saving you from the wrath of Barnaby," Eliza pleaded.

"Okay. But just this one time," Colin gave in.

Eliza pointed to a rope ladder leading on board, "Go."

Ten minutes later, the three were standing on the black ship. "Wow, Eliza. This is so amazing," Colin said sarcastically.

"Shut up. Look over there by the captain's cabin. It's a throne. Whoever is on this ship must be royalty," Eliza said dreamily. They walked to the middle of the ship.

"So? They're probably stuck up and think they're great," Colin argued.

"Guys," Andrew pulled on Colin's sleeve.

"Not all kings or queens are like that, Colin," Eliza shot back.

"Why did you even bring me out here? It's just a silly old chair," Colin spat.

"Guys," Andrew said again.

"What?" Colin and Eliza said in unison. Andrew pointed over to the throne. Standing by it were the three men Colin had seen talking to Barnaby earlier. They saw Andrew, Eliza, and Colin.

"Get them!" one shouted.

The three children ran to the opposite side of the ship they came up on.

"There's just a rope," Eliza panicked.

"Go, then!" Colin yelled.

Eliza grabbed the rope and slid down. Colin heard her feet hit a dock and he sent Andrew down. Colin was right behind him. What Colin thought was a dock that they had landed on was just another ship, "Run!" Colin shouted at Eliza and Andrew.

They took off across the boat and when they came to the other side they stopped, "What are you waiting for?" Colin said to Eliza, "Jump!" Eliza jumped and landed on the next boat. Andrew and Colin jumped and kept running. They could hear the shouts of the men behind them. "They must already be down the rope," Colin thought. The three children jumped from one ship to the other until they reached the last one before a dock. The men were still chasing them, but when Colin looked back, he wished he hadn't. There were more guards from the black ship and some people from the ships they had run across chasing them. Colin jumped onto the dock and the children continued running down the dock.

Once they reached the street, they looked around. They didn't know where they were, "Keep going," Eliza told Andrew. They reached a crossroad and turned left. Behind them the shouts of the people were dying down as they weaved through alleys and streets. Finally, they stopped and looked around them. They were in a cobblestone alley. The ground was wet with grime.

"Eliza?" Colin asked as he adjusted his cloak.

"Yeah?" she asked, catching her breath.

"I do believe we're lost." Colin worriedly said.

"No. All we have to do is go over here..." Eliza mumbled as she stepped out of the dank alley. They were on a street lined with dark buildings. At one end was a fountain that was out if order and a dead end and on the other end was the Customs House by the harbor front, "See, Colin." Eliza actually had no idea where she was until she saw the Customs House.

"Oh. Well, that's good. Then we just follow the harbor front to my house?" Colin asked, hoping to get home after the long night.

"Maybe..." Eliza said but trailed off in deep thought, "Who's that?" Eliza pointed to a figure in red by the Customs House. It was obviously a woman and she was looking around.

"There!" a voice shouted behind them. They turned to see the three men from the ship standing at the other end of the dark alley they had just come from. The three children ran in the only direction they could towards the woman in red. But when they looked up, they realized she wasn't standing there anymore. When they reached where she was standing moments before, they stopped.

"Psst. Children! In here!" a woman's voice whispered from the shadows by the Customs House. They turned and in the dark, they made out the figure of the woman in red. Colin, Eliza, and Andrew ran into the shadows. But the shadows led into an archway, "Grab each other's hands," the voice said again. The children did so―Colin grabbed Eliza's and Eliza grabbed Andrew's. Colin felt the woman grasp his left hand and pull him along through the archway. Once they were through, candles lit the alley up. The woman let go of Colin's hand and stepped behind the children, waving her hand over the entrance. It faded into a boring stone wall.

"Who are you?" Colin asked politely, noticing the golden circlet upon the woman's head.

"I am the Queen of the Castle," The Queen said proudly. She had long, dark hair and Eliza noticed the beautiful white fur lining on her red cloak.

"Your Majesty, thank you," Colin said in awe.

"I insist, call me Jenna." The Queen said.

"Thank you for saving us from those wretched men, Jenna," said Eliza.

"You are welcome. And I believe you can let each other go now?" Jenna peered at the children who were all still holding each others hands. Colin dropped Eliza's hand, embarrassed.

"What is this place?" Andrew asked.

"Let's just call it a hidden alley, since I can't tell you exactly what it is. It's a secret. A secret for the Queens of the Castle," Jenna explained.

"Oh," was what Andrew responded with.

"Let's give it a few minutes and then we can go back outside, "Tell me, how did you three young children come be out here at," Jenna checked her timepiece, "1:30 in the morning?"

"Well, you see," Colin started, "My friend here, Eliza wanted to show me a ship, and we got on board, but it wasn't ours..."

"That's never something clever," said Jenna, remembering some occasions where she'd done that.

Colin explained their story, with Eliza and Andrew jumping in sometimes and saying parts, until he finished and took a deep breath.

"That is a very interesting story. Perhaps we can check to see if the coast is clear?" asked Jenna.

"That's good, Your Majesty! Check to see if the coast is clear―the coast. Because we're in The Port," Colin began laughing.

"The pun was unintentional, but it's good just the same," said Jenna. She placed her hand on the middle of the brick wall they had come through. They shimmered and revealed the dark night. The four stepped out and breathed in the fresh air.

"We are very grateful, Jenna. Is there any way that we can repay you?" asked Colin.

"Just do one thing," she said, "Don't go looking for trouble. Try to avoid it."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you so, so much Jenna," Eliza said.

"I trust you can find your way home, hopefully?" Jenna inquired.

"Yes," the children said in unison.

"Goodbye, then."

Colin, Eliza, and Andrew set off down the harbor front, not worrying about the theives in the night, "We'll walk home with you, Colin," Eliza said.

The children walked down the street and they came across Colin's house. He stepped up to the door and turned around to say goodbye to Eliza and Andrew.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Do you think you can come over to the bread stand? It gets awfully boring there, only selling bread all day," said Colin.

"I think I can manage that. Andrew can't though. He has to go to his friends house tomorrow," Eliza explained.

"Okay. I'll wait for you until you get there. Then we can talk and sell bread," Colin mumbled sleepily.

"How exciting," Eliza said sarcastically.

"Well, see you," Colin said as he turned to open the door. Eliza and Andrew set off towards their house. Andrew turned back to wave, bit Colin was already inside, heading for his bead. He had no trouble going to sleep that night.


	3. Chapter 2―At Knight

The following morning, Colin followed the same routine. The only exception was getting breakfast. Once the bread stand was set up and Barnaby had left, Colin sat and waited for customers. All the people milling around made Colin dizzy, mostly because he was so tired from last night.

Colin had sold seven loaves of bread when something caught his eye and washed away the fatigue. Standing on the harbor front was a man in purple. Around his neck, he wore a golden amulet and his belt glinted in the sun. His curly straw-colored hair was a mess and his green eyes were extremely distinguishable among the crowd of people. Colin knew exactly who he was. This man was the ExtraOrdinary Wizard of the Castle. He lived in the top of The Wizard Tower. Colin had read about the ExtraOrdinary position in one of the few books he kept in his chest at home. He recognized the amulet immediately and he'd heard about the current Wizard―Septimus Heap.

Septimus hurried over to the Harbor and Dock Pie Shop and went in. After a few minutes he came back out with two pies. He sat down on a bench by the docks and began eating one of the pies. Suddenly a woman with dark hair appeared. Colin couldn't understand what they were saying over the chatter of Port people, but he understood that it was important. The woman finished off the other pie and surprising Colin, Septimus pointed to his bread stand and got up. The woman followed him over and when he reached the stand Septimus said, "Hello!"

"Uh...Oh, hi. What do you need?" Colin asked politely.

"Are you Colin?" the woman asked.

"Please, Marcia. Let me do the talking," Septimus addressed the woman.

"I was only trying to help, Septimus," responded Marcia.

"Anyways. Are you?" Septimus turned to Colin. He nodded in awe that the ExtraOrdinary Wizard knew who he was, "Good. Jenna, The Queen, told me your story. She said you were running from men?" Colin nodded a second time, "Okay. Do you know anything about the ship they were from? The Knight?"

"No. I was only on the deck for a few seconds," Colin explained.

"Okay. Thank you. We'll be off now," Septimus said, and he turned around, walking away.

Colin sat for a few hours, waiting for Eliza to come. Near sunset, Barnaby came back. They packed everything into the bread cart and wheeled it back to their house. Colin began to worry. Eliza always keeps her promise and if she can't she tells you so. After dinner, when Colin went to his room, he had a plan. After his step-dad went to sleep, he was going to sneak out again. Near midnight, Colin opened his bedroom door. He peered down the hallway into the kitchen. Barnaby wasn't at the table, but he could hear loud snoring coming from his room. Colin suppressed a laugh. His step-father sounded like a pig. He pulled the front door open slowly and stepped out onto the front steps.

Colin was wearing his cloak again. This time, he set out the opposite direction from last night towards Eliza's house. The wind grew cold and a light snow began to fall by the time he had reached her house. He looked up at her window and saw that a candle was sitting in it. Without making any noise, Colin stepped into the side alley under her window. Her window was on the second floor, so he was going to have to climb. Nailed up against their house was a trellis. Vines and creepers had grown all over it, but Colin grabbed it and began to climb. A few times he slipped and almost fell, but finally he reached her window. The candle was still burning, so Colin presumed Eliza was in there. He knocked on the window quietly. The candle was blown out and he saw a figure in the window but he couldn't tell if it was Eliza. Whoever it was opened the window. Eliza's pale face appeared in front of the window.

"Colin!" she whispered loudly almost making him fall, "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come to the bread stand today. I thought something happened," Colin said.

"Oh. No, my parents found out about me sneaking out last night," said Eliza.

"I'm sorry. So you can't leave?" asked Colin. She shook her head and sighed.

"My window is supposed to be locked but I kind of...unlocked it." she held up her lock pick.

Colin laughed quietly, "Okay I was just wondering. Anyways, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard came to see me today."

"What?" Eliza responded loudly.

"Shh. Yeah, he wanted to know about the ship from last night. Apparently it's called the Knight," Colin explained, "Queen Jenna told him."

"Oh. Well, I'd love to investigate, but if my parents found out about me leaving again..."

"Exactly. That's why I'm going back to the Knight tonight."

"No! We almost died last night. Are you crazy?"

"I'll be back to tell you all about it. Septimus Heap, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard needed information about it. If I see him again, I'll tell him"

"Colin, you can't. You just can't."

"I'm going whether you want me to or not."

"I can't change your mind, but I can help you. Take this," Eliza handed a small blue rock with black dots. Colin felt something coming from it, but he couldn't describe it, "It's an Unseen. It'll help you be invisible if you try. Here take this and read over it very carefully."

Eliza explained how to do the Unseen. The paper was the incantation. Ten minutes later, Colin was climbing back down the trellis. His feet hit the ground and he looked up at Eliza. He had tried the Unseen a few times in front of Eliza and it had worked. He waved at her as she closed the window and put the candle back. She lit the candle and moved away from the window. From this moment on, Colin knew he was on his own.

About thirty minutes later, he reached the end of the long dock. Colin looked up at the black Knight. He read the Unseen incantation and felt himself become invisible. He focused on it and only that. He found the rope ladder and began climbing. Once he reached the top he hopped on the deck and steadied his senses. Colin looked around. There was no one on the deck but he could hear a soft chatter below deck. He tiptoed over to the captain's cabin, walking by the throne, and tried the door. Luckily, it was unlocked and he went inside. The inside was warm and small. At the back were four long windows that reached to the floor. In the middle of the room was a table covered in papers and maps. On the right wall was a huge painting of another ship with blood red sails. It had a ram and the front and was oddly menacing. On the left wall was a model ship but its sails were broken off. They were set aside on the table it was on.

Colin walked to the table in the middle of the room and looked at a few of the papers. One was a map of The Port and one was of the Castle. He sifted through the papers and found drawings of people. One of the men had curly hair with braids in it and looked similar to Septimus Heap. Then there was a drawing of Septimus Heap and one of Queen Jenna. And one of Marcia, the woman with Septimus. And a drawing of a man with black hair with the words Chief Hermetic Scribe at the bottom. Once Colin got to looking, all of the drawings had words at the bottom.

Suddenly, behind him he heard a rattle. Colin looked over in the corner below the model ship and saw a trapdoor. The rattling stopped and everything was quiet except for the soft murmur of people below. He walked over to the trapdoor and gripped the handle. Colin pulled on it and it swung open, revealing stairs that led down into darkness. And he also saw what was rattling it. A fat rat had been pushing on it with its tiny paws. Colin took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.

The smell of fish and rum overcame him and he almost had to hold his nose. The stairs led deeper into the boat. Colin looked at the walls and realized with a fright that they were covered with slime and moss.

"Gross," he mumbled as he continued farther into the ship. Ahead of him he saw a landing. Finally he stopped at the landing to catch his breath. Farther down the stairs Colin saw a man was coming. Colin didn't see any other choice so he ducked off the landing onto what looked like a hallway. Hoping that the man wouldn't come this way, but realizing that the only other option was up (which there was no one up there), he held his breath in the shadows. Colin didn't trust his Unseen enough to walk right in front of someone. The man stopped and turned on the floor Colin was on. He passed so close that Colin could smell the strong stench of fish coming off of him. When the man disappeared through a door at the end of the hallway, Colin let out his breath.

He listened and realized that the sound of voices was coming from the door that the man had passed through. Colin came out of the shadows and began tiptoeing to the door the man had went through. He pressed his ear against the door and listened.

"Gregory. You didn't bring any more rum..." a drunken voice trailed off.

"No. I didn't know I was supposed to," another voice right by the door said. Colin presumed that this was the man that had just entered the room.

"Well, go get some then." another man mumbled.

Colin didn't find this the least bit interesting so he set off back down the hallway to the stairs. Once he was going down again, he started to wonder who the person was that sat on the throne. The next landing came, and Colin heard a louder chatter. At the very end of the hallway, voices drifted out of the room. He walked to the door, examining it. Above his head was a hole in the door. He stood on his tiptoes and looked in. Surrounding a round table were seven people, all looking conpletely different. One had a beard and looked like powerful, and another had bright orange clothes.

"They don't know we're coming, Hulu, I've told you," the man with the beard said to the one in orange in a gruff voice, "Those meddling kids didn't see anything last night."

"You do not know that, Phillip," the man in orange squeaked in a high pitch voice.

"That's 'Captain' or 'Your Majesty' to you," Phillip said. So this was the man who sat at the throne. Colin thought hard.

"Like I said, we attack the Castle in precisely one week. There will be no stalling or waiting," The Captain explained.

"My reinforcements will be here exactly the same day!" exclaimed a woman wrapped in furs.

"Great, thank you Ida. Viktor?" The Captain addressed a large man to his left, "What about you?"

"My people will be arriving that day as well," Viktor said in an accent that Colin had never heard before.

The rest of the people were addressed by The Captain and they all agreed on their reinforcements coming on the same day. Finally, The Captain nodded and said, "A rein of terror will be brought forth upon all the citizens who live in the Castle. The Wizard Tower and The Palace will be ours!"

Everyone around the table cheered and Colin stepped back in horror. He had to tell Eliza immediately. He had a plan. Colin ran up the stairs attracting the attention of the drunk men on the first floor. But Colin didn't care. He had to tell Septimus Heap. Colin was going to the Castle.

Colin launched himself down the rope ladder, missing the last few steps, and slamming into the dock below. He got up, rushing off along the long dock, back to his house. His concentration had broken on his Unseen so Colin wasn't invisible anymore. The snow had stopped falling now. At the end of the dock, Colin tripped and skinned his knuckle, but he kept going. At last, when he reached his house, he stopped to catch his breath. Silently, he opened the front door and slipped inside. The everlasting smell of bread in the house filled his nose. Colin stopped outside his step-father's room and listened hard. Barnaby was still asleep. Colin pulled open his own bedroom door and went inside. At his bed, he sat down and pulled out his chest. In one of the deep pockets in his jacket, he withdrew a key. With a steady hand, Colin unlocked his chest and looked inside. On the right were all of his clothes stacked up in a neat pile. On the left were two books stacked, one on top of the other. Beside those was Colin's knapsack. He brought it out and untied the flap. His hand moving swiftly, he put all of his clothes into the knapsack. After it was tied and tidy, he stood up, locking the chest, and pushing it back under his bed.

Colin slipped back out of his room ad ran into the kitchen. The chandelier was still lit, casting shadows along the walls. There, he grabbed three loaves of bread and stuffed them into his knapsack. Now it was full. Colin tiptoed back to his step-father's room and listened again. He was still snoring. As quietly as he could, Colin gently opened the door and looked into the darkness. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he went into the room. Barnaby had his hand hanging off the side of the bed and his face was in the pillow. Now came the hard part. Colin had to find the money box. He checked under the bed, in the drawers, on shelves, but he couldn't find it. Finally, he saw it. In the mattress, there was a lump under Barnaby. Colin knelt down and looked under the mattress. There, in a leather hide bag, was the money. Careful not to wake his step-father, Colin reached his hand under the mattress and grasped the money pouch. In a quick movement, he pulled out the money pouch. But he didn't do it gently enough. Suddenly, Barnaby sat up, his head facing the opposite wall. Colin slipped under the bed and he could feel his step-father looking in the direction he was standing in moments before. After a few more seconds, he felt his step-father lay down and the snoring resumed.

Colin took his chance and ran out of the room. Colin stopped in the hallway to make sure the mo ey was in the pouch. Luckily, it was. After he was outside, he set off towards Eliza's house at a jog. When he reached it, he climbed up the trellis again and knocked on her window. After five minutes of knocks, Eliza opened the window.

"Colin it's almost three o'clock in the morning," mumbled Eliza sleepily, "I was asleep."

"I went on the Knight and I found out something awful," Colin replied. He told her about the drawings and maps in the captain's cabin. Then he explained the wretched conversation the seven people had about ambushing the Castle.

"I need you to come with me to the Castle," Colin said as snow began to fall again.

"W-what?"

"It's in grave danger, we have to tell Septimus Heap!" Colin responded frantically.

"Colin is this really what you want? I'll help if you need it," said Eliza.

"Yes. And thank you. Are you coming with me though?"

"Of course. I'm not staying here with Andrew." Eliza turned to go back into her room.

"I'll be waiting at the bottom," Colin said.

Eliza nodded and Colin jumped back down the trellis. Very soon, Eliza was standing beside him with her cloak on over her coat.

"I left a note. I packed some clothes, too. I brought a map, because you obviously didn't," she smiled, "I'm ready," Eliza whispered.

And with that, the two set off in the direction of the Castle.


	4. Chapter 3―Marram Marshes

Eliza led Colin to the very Northern side of The Port. There, they stopped at some old, weathered docks. The only ship was a sailboat tied up to the very last dock. The sails were light grey and the wood was worn.

"This was my grandfather's. Her name's Freeda. She was named after my grandmother," said Eliza impressively.

"She's beautiful." Colin took a step towards Freeda, "Is it yours?"

"Yes. My parents don't know, but when my grandfather died, he gave it to me," Eliza responded, smiling at happy memories of her grandparents.

"Great, let's go."

Colin and Eliza stepped onto the sailboat and untied her. They pushed off and in no time at all the cold wind had found the boat and they were on their way through the Marram Marshes. After a few minutes, Eliza looked behind her and said, "I want to go through the Marshes because I don't want to be seen on the open River. Someone might recognize us."

Soon, The Port was out of sight and the two children were in the Marshes by themselves.

"Do you think we'll get there in time?" asked Colin.

"At the speed we're going, yeah, we will. We'll get there really soon," Eliza said confidently.

After an hour of silence, Colin looked to the East. The horizon was beginning to light up as the sun rose. Soon, they'd be able to see all of the Marram Marshes clearly. Colin pulled out the map and examined it closely. Colin said, "If we're where I think we are, then around this next bend there should be a small island and beyond that is the River."

"Right. We're almost there."

But around the next bend wasn't the River. It was just more Marsh. After about half an hour, Freeda shuddered. Colin looked down and realized that the water was so shallow that they had run aground.

"Colin?" asked Eliza.

"Yes?"

"Are...are we lost?"

"No, we only took a wrong turn. All we have to do is..." Colin turned the map and looked at it, "I...I think we're lost, Eliza."

"But when did we go wrong? I thought we were going the right way."

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes beside them. The Marsh ground was only about seven feet away. Before they could see whatever was in the bushes a voice called out, "An' just who are you?"

This scared Colin and he fell out of the boat into the cold water. All of the clothes in his bag were wet along with the bread. He stood up in the mud and clambered back onto the boat. Eliza turned to look at where the voice was coming from. In the shallow muddy water beside the boat, a pathetic looking creature sat.

"W―what are you?" Colin asked shakily.

"I is the Boggart of course," it said proudly, "Now. You are?"

"I'm...I'm Colin and this is Eliza."

"Right then. Yer lost aren't you?" the Boggart said.

"Yes, Mr. Boggart. Do you know where we're at?" Eliza said in the most girly voice that Colin ever heard (obviously trying to get what she wanted).

"Well, of course, miss. Yer right near Keeper's Cottage on Draggen Island." the Boggart was saying.

"Are we near the Castle?" Colin asked.

"Ah, no yer not. It's fairly far away."

"Oh." Eliza was confused. She'd followed the map, "Do you think maybe you could guide us to the Castle? We must get there, it's a very serious matter."

"You seem like nice folk. An' I can guide you."

Colin grabbed Eliza's shoulder and whispered, "How do you know we can trust him?"

"I would appreciate if you got your wet hand off of me," Colin removed his hand, "Now. He's our only choice we can stay out here and face who knows what, or we can follow him."

"Well...okay. But he said we're near a cottage. Do you think they have food? The bread was ruined when I fell."

"Okay. Hang on," Eliza turned back to the Boggart, who was watching them, "Mr. Boggart? Do you think you can take us to the Keeper's Cottage you mentioned?"

"Uh, yeah. Just follow me."

Colin took an oar and pushed off from the shallow water. Once they had gotten into deeper water, they began to follow the Boggart. He led them through the Marsh and finally ahead of them, Colin and Eliza saw an island. Colin whispered, "This must be Draggen Island."

They sailed the boat to a dock and tied it up. Once everything was put away, they looked up at the welcoming cottage in front of them. The Boggart had stayed in the water. He said, "This is the Keeper's Cottage. I live in the mud patch over there," the Boggart pointed away from the cottage, "Marwick isn't here now, but he said he'll be back." With this, the Boggart had a sad look in his eyes as he sank below the muddy water.

Eliza turned to Colin, "Who do you think Marwick is?"

"I don't know. But let's go."

Colin and Eliza walked up to the Keeper's Cottage. Eliza pushed open the door revealing a coziness that wasn't outside. Even though there was no fire in the hearth, the room was still warm. In the middle of the room was a flight of stairs leading up to the next floor and potion bottles on shelves lined the walls. A small cupboard under the stairs was marked by a sign that read 'Unstable Potions and Partikular Poisons'. The room smelled of cabbage and stale bread. Against one of the walls was a rather odd looking desk.

Colin walked over to the fireplace and looked at it, "No one's lit this in a while," said Colin.

"Maybe Marwick left a long time ago," suggested Eliza.

"I'm not sure. But since no one's here, I suppose we could stay for the rest of today and tonight?" Colin also suggested.

"It's really nice. And there's logs by the fire. You could dry off," said Eliza.

"That sounds good."

Half an hour later, a fire was blazing in the hearth and Colin's wet clothes were hung by the fire. He had found some rather loud patchwork clothing upstairs that he threw on while he waited for his clothes to dry out. Eliza had found some bread that was Preserved for eating. After they ate, Eliza moved closer to the fire. While Colin looked at the books by the desk, he heard Eliza scream. He looked over and saw one of the weirdest sights. Eliza was being chased by a duck. Colin watched as she was ran in circles around the stairs. Finally, when the duck got close enough to Colin, he grabbed it. But it wasn't in his hands very long. The duck bit Colin and it fell to the floor, where it ran through a small hole in the wall.

"W―why?" Eliza panted, "Why is there a duck here?"

"Maybe it's Marwick's?" suggested Colin.

"I don't know," she replied. Suddenly she felt very tired from the night of excitement, "But are you tired?"

"Yeah. There were some blankets upstairs. We could set them out by the fire. It's only midday, but we've been up all night."

Eliza turned to go up the flight of stairs. When she returned, Colin put a pillow up against the wall and leaned on it. Then he covered himself with a blanket. Eliza removed her jacket and laid down by the fire. In minutes, she was asleep. But Colin wasn't.

Soon he got bored of sitting there so he got up. Colin walked over to the front door and pulled it open. A gust of cold wind blasted him and he shut the door. He stepped back into the room and grabbed his cloak, which was almost dry, and his boots. For the second time he opened the door, but this time he went outside. While they were in the cottage, a light blanket of snow had fallen. As Colin walked, he looked around. Crossing the water that was surrounding the island was a bridge. Colin walked through the snow. He could still see paths leading off in different directions on the ground. He took one that led along the side of the island. After minutes of walking he saw a bubbly patch of mud with snow crystals covering the top. Without warning, a figure heaved itself out of the mud. Colin slipped in the snow in surprise and fell on his back. It knocked the breath right out of him and made his head go fuzzy.

When he sat up, he saw the Boggart on the side of the mud patch. Colin said, "Hello, again."

"Yer a noisy lot. I could hear yer loud footsteps from beneath the mud." The Boggart motioned to the glooping patch, "What is it you need?"

"I was just going for a walk. But, now that you mention it, do you think you could direct us to the Castle tomorrow? "

"If the snow's not up, I'll take yah."

"Thank you. So, who is Marwick?"

"He's the Keeper of the Cottage. If you ever see 'im, will yah tell him to come here?"

"Of course. Thanks again," said Colin

The Boggart nodded and sank back beneath the mud. Colin suddenly felt very cold. He began to walk back to the cottage. Once he reached the door, he went inside and threw off his cloak. Colin finally went to lie down and he fell asleep immediately.

Late in the day, both Colin and Eliza woke up. Eliza found some more Preserved foods―cabbage, butter, and more bread. Colin was so tired of bread, but when Eliza boiled the cabbage and Colin buttered the bread (and since Colin hadn't eaten in a while), buttered bread cabbage sandwiches tasted great. After dinner, the duck came back through the hole in the wall. The crumbs on the floor from the sandwiches were cleaned up by the duck and then it retreated back to its hole.

For a few hours, Colin and Eliza sat by the fire. Colin had grabbed a few of the books along the walls to read through and when he opened one titled Defense and Offense Against the Dangerous, a tiny blue paper folded like an envelope fell out onto the floor from the page. Colin picked it up. On the page was a few lines of words. They read:

Defend and deny

The threats against I.

No harm shall come to me

While I protect myself from thee.

Colin looked down at the blue envelope. This must be a charm, he thought. He decided to see if it worked. Colin spotted a small brown mouse that was crawling through the shadows by the desk. Colin walked over to it and, holding the charm in his hand, repeated the incantation. At first it didn't work so Colin tried again. This time, the mouse froze and started squeaking. Colin didn't know what the spell did and he didn't want to hurt the mouse. Hurriedly, he rushed back to the book. Written under the incantation it said in fine print, "Causes traumatic scenes to flash before your eyes."

Colin panicked, not wanting to let the mouse die. In the next page was the Reverse. Colin said it and suddenly the mouse stopped squeaking and ran back into the darkness.

Colin called to Eliza, "Hey, Eliza?"

"Yeah?" she responded sleepily.

"I think I found a helpful Charm."

Eliza got up and walked over to Colin. She grabbed the book and read the whole page about it. She looked up at him and said, "If we run into trouble it might be helpful. Don't you think it's a little over the top? With the 'Traumatic Scenes'?"

"We'll only use it if we're in terrible danger." Colin walked over and tucked the Charm into his jacket (which was still hanging by the fire) pocket, "I think it's time to go to sleep." Colin and Eliza walked back to the fire and laid down.

In the early hours of the morning, Colin was shook awake by Eliza.

"Wassamatter?" Colin mumbled blearily.

Eliza was whispering fast, but Colin couldn't understand what she was saying. Finally, he shook off the sleepy feeling and focused his attention on Eliza. It was still dark out and the fire had burned down.

"...but now they're right outside the door," Colin heard Eliza finish. He looked around at the door and realized the handle was rattling like someone (or something) was pushing a key into the lock.

"Stay back," whispered Colin, crouching back into the shadows. Eliza followed.

Suddenly the door sprang open and a dark figure with a mess of tangled hair entered the room. By itself, the hearth lit up with flames, revealing the two children in the corner.

"Hello. It's okay, you can come out," the figure said, "I'm Marwick."

This relieved the children enough to come out of the shadows. Colin started, "We're―"

"Colin and Eliza," Marwick finished, "The Boggart told me."

"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you Marwick. We didn't know you were coming back so soon," said Eliza.

"It's fine. You can stay," he said as he closed the door and walked over to the desk. Now Colin knew why it looked so odd―it had duck feet, "And also, I'll be taking you to the Castle in the morning, if that's alright."

"Its completely fine. Thank you, Marwick," said Colin.

"No problem. Now, go back to sleep."

Colin went back to the blankets. He thought about how nice it'd be to live out here in a cottage everyday with the just the Boggart and Swamp creatures as company. Colin trusted Marwick completely, even though he had never met him. His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was what the insane duck's name was.

Marwick, Colin, and Eliza got an early start in the morning. The Boggart came up to say goodbye and Eliza and Colin returned the goodbyes. Colin also learned that the duck's name was Bert. They all piled into the Freeda and pushed off. Marwick directed them to a stretch of water which he called Deppen Ditch. In an hour, they were on their way, sailing down the River to the Castle.


	5. Chapter 4―To the Castle

The Freeda was sailing fast down the River. After they left the Marram Marshes, the wind had picked up along the River. As Marwick fiddled with the ropes, Colin sat beside Eliza.

"We're on our way―finally," said Eliza.

"At least we've still got a lot of time before they attack," said Colin.

"Who?" Marwick was listening to their conversation. "Who's getting attacked?"

Colin and Eliza looked at each other. Should we tell him, Eliza mouthed.

"Uh, tell me what?" asked Marwick.

"It's just―the Castle," Colin tried to explain.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"When we were in The Port, Colin overheard a conversation on a ship―the Knight. There were bad people on it who were talking about..." Eliza tried to finish. She didn't want Marwick to panic.

"The people are coming to ambush the Castle," Colin finished for Eliza.

"Oh." Marwick stopped tying the ropes. "Do you know when?"

"Early yesterday morning they said they would be there with reinforcements in exactly seven days," explained Colin.

"We can warn Sep then. . ." muttered Marwick.

"Yeah, I was hoping to," said Colin, understanding that "Sep" must be Septimus Heap. He looked out across the River. On their right, as far as he could see were rolling fields. But when he looked on the other side, there was a completely different―but just as beautiful―scene. Tall trees towered up into the sky forming a thick forest. Colin had never been this far upriver and he thought it was more pleasing to the eye than anything he could remember―especially some of the dirty Port people.

But Eliza was used to it. Surprisingly, she'd never been to the Castle. However, she had been out into the Farmlands. Her grandparents had lived in a small house by one of the streams that led to the River.

After a while, Marwick directed the small sailboat up a stream that led into the trees on the left of the River. The boat drifted silently through the water and bumped into the stiff muddy bank. Colin hopped onto the bank and found a tree stump that was stuck hard in the mud. He tied the rope around the stump and stood up.

Colin looked around. This didn't look like much of a Castle. In fact, there were no structures anywhere. Surrounding Colin was a bank―the mud was frozen and the ground was as hard as iron. Farther back on the bank were trees that reached up into the sky and the branches and limbs near the top arched over, making a thick canopy, blocking the white winter sun from view.

"This isn't the Cas―" started Colin, but he was cut off by Marwick energetically holding up a basket.

"Lunch!" he exclaimed. Once everyone was on the bank, they settled down onto a large stump and began eating Greenroot sandwiches that Marwick had kindly made for them earlier that morning. Eliza and Colin had never eaten it before and―they didn't dare tell Marwick―it wasn't the best tasting food.

Half an hour later, they were back on Freeda sailing up the River again. Soon, they reached another stream that led off to the right of the River into the Farmlands. After they sailed around a very long bend in the River, they had a straighter course.

"We're almost there now," said Marwick.

Colin already knew. He could feel it. He didn't know how to explain it" but he could feel that they were getting close to the Castle. Colin plopped down on the small wooden bench connected to the bottom of the boat by Eliza.

"I was just thinking about something, Colin," said Eliza.

Colin raised his eyebrows to show he was listening.

"If the people on the Knight only had ships―and it seemed like the reinforcements were coming on ships too―then how will all of those ships manage to get up the River? The Castle is pretty far inland for that many people on ships to attack."

"I'm not sure. But maybe they're only using ships to arrive? Then they'll find some other way maybe. But I don't know," confessed Colin. He looked out across the River. In front of them a huge rock reared up.

Marwick noticed them looking at the rock looming up into the sky. "That's Raven's Rock."

As they slowly rounded the rock (Marwick making sure to keep to the right of the River in case of a run in with the Beaks―sharp rocks hidden under the water) Colin and Eliza gasped. Right in front of them was a huge wall that stretched along the River left and right. Behind the wall, Colin could see the tops of roofs and a few chimneys, all with smoke billowing out. To their left were a few docks and to their right was a magnificent sight.

Opening out to the water was a long lawn that led from a long, beautiful building. As Marwick explained what things were, Colin barely listened. He had never seen something so amazing―not even in The Port.

"...and the water surrounding the Castle is called the Moat." Colin heard Marwick finish. As they sailed left along the Moat, Colin had to suppress a shout of excitement―all his life, as long as he could remember, he'd wanted to come to the Castle. But he reminded himself that he had work to do. He had to find Septimus Heap and warn him of the great danger that was approaching.

Soon, they reached a cluster of small boats and docks. "Welcome to Jannit Maarten's Boatyard," said Marwick. Freeda pulled up to a dock and Marwick swiftly hopped out and tied her off. "Get everything you need out and please follow me."

Colin grabbed his knapsack and Eliza grabbed hers. Soon, they were walking towards a tunnel that led into the Castle. As they stepped through what was called the boatyard tunnel, Colin gasped again. There were so many people in the Castle. Shouts and noises came from all over the Castle and it made Colin feel a little lightheaded. Everyone here in the Castle were all so close together. This place had a different atmosphere than The Port, thought Colin. It felt...A little more friendly. Marwick stepped in front of them to lead the way. "Welcome to the Castle, my friends."


	6. Chapter 5―At Night

"We'll be taking a few of the alleys and streets out to Maker's Mile then we'll go down it and turn onto Alchemie Way. That'll take us to Wizard Way which leads straight to the Wizard Tower," explained Marwick as they weaved through streets, "You're going to love this place―even if you're thinking about other things." Marwick referred to the trouble with the ambush. "I'm taking Maker's Mile and Alchemie Way because I need to stop by the Palace. Queen Jenna needs to know about the ambush too."

Colin nodded and remained silent. He was still speechless from how brilliant the Castle was. Eliza reacted differently however. She thought it had looked different from the outside, but inside the Castle it still just felt like The Port.

Colin looked to the sky. To the west the sun was setting and it cast a golden glow over the Castle making it glint. His breath fogged in the chilly air when Colin exhaled. He loved the Castle so much. What harm would it cause Barnaby if Colin stayed here?

Soon, the trio reached Maker's Mile. It stretched the length of the Castle. One end stretched all the way to the South Gate and the other led to the North Gate. They set off in the direction of where the South Gate was located. But after awhile, they reached a huge chimney sticking up out of the middle of the street. Behind it was a wide street―Alchemie Way―and in the distance, at the end of the Way, Colin could see the Palace, it's windows gleaming in the setting sun.

"This is the Alchemie Chimney. It leads down into the Fyre Chamber, but that's another story for another time," explained Marwick.

Colin noticed lettering carved into the granite slabs at the base of the chimney. He motioned for Eliza to come look at the lettering which read:

Marcellus Pye: Last and First Alchemist.

Simon Heap: Alchemie Apprentice.

Lucy Heap: Architect.

Heather, Elizabeth and Samson Snarp: Stonemasons and Lighthouse Builders.

Colin looked at the names for a few minutes, reading over it several times. Marcellus Pye. Colin thought that he had heard that name before. Marcellus Pye. It sounded so familiar. Suddenly, he remembered. Back on the Knight there was a drawing of a man with black hair a black robes. Colin recalled the scribbles that were at the bottom. It had said: Marcellus Pye, Castle Alchemist and TROUBLEMAKER. Colin didn't know what it had meant by "Troublemaker". If Marcellus Pye was the Castle Alchemist, then he couldn't very well be a troublemaker for the Castle.

Marwick broke Colin out of deep thought by pulling Colin away from the chimney. "Now we're almost to the Palace."

As they walked along Alchemie Way, Colin and Eliza watched the orange sun set on the horizon. Colin looked up at the sky. Faintly, he could make out the stars in the sky and near the horizon was a light that he presumed was the moon. But Colin didn't realize that the moon wasn't going to come up in the west. Nor did he know that in the distance out in the Forest, across the Moat, the Wendron Witches were listening to Phillip from the Knight explain the ambush. He also didn't know that the light that he thought was the moon, was just the Wendron Witches celebrating the expected fall of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard.

When the trio reached the Palace, Marwick stopped and turned to Colin and Eliza. "You must be polite to Queen Jenna. She's a great person and―"

"We've met her before," interrupted Eliza.

"Oh," Marwick said. "Where?"

"In The Port. She actually saved us from people chasing us."

"Cool. Well, come on then." Marwick said, leading them up to the Palace doors. Once inside, Marwick shut the doors, blocking out the cold. Colin and Eliza turned around. In the entrance hall, Queen Jenna stood, awaiting them. She had a blood red dress that swept along the ground and her torso was covered with a black wool―knitted sweater. She looked like a child that had decided to dress themselves, but the trio said nothing.

"Wolf B―" Jenna stopped herself. "Marwick. It's good to see you!"

"You too." Marwick looked down at Colin and Eliza.

"You guys! What? Marwick, what are they doing here?" Jenna realized that what she said had sounded rude. "I'm sorry. It's very nice to see both of you. And it even nicer to know that you're not out very late at night."

"Yeah. Hi, it's nice to see you too, Queen Jenna." Eliza shifted uncomfortably. She felt very nervous.

"Um, Jen? We've got something very important to tell you," said Marwick.

"Of course. Mum's sitting room?" Marwick nodded and Jenna led them to a wooden door down the hall. She opened it and walked inside. The dim light from the fireplace cast shadows dancing along the walls. In the middle of the room was a sofa cluttered with books and other trinkets. Along the walls where shelves lined with more books and weird looking objects.

Jenna cleared away some of the mess from the sofa and two chairs―with the assistance of Marwick. "It's a bit of a mess, I'll admit, but it's a great place to concentrate on important conversations." Queen Jenna and Marwick sat in the armchairs, leaving the sofa for Colin and Eliza. "Okay then. What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Marwick explained everything with the help of the children. After he finished, Queen Jenna looked shocked. "Oh," she said as she leaned back in the armchair. "That's not good at all. We must tell Septimus."

"That's exactly where we were going," said Marwick. Colin nodded in agreement and looked at Eliza. She was staring into the fire.

"Let's go now, then," exclaimed Jenna as she stood up. "We haven't a moment to lose."

Ten minutes later, the four were out on Wizard Way, walking along to the Wizard Tower. Lining the street were shops full of anything you could think of―cloaks, sandwiches, books―anything. Colin felt excitement rising in him. He felt as if he were in a dream. The Castle was so amazing. At the very end of Wizard Way was the Wizard Tower. It reared up into the sky and Colin let out an "Oh my..." because the Wizard Tower was better than anything. It was so tall and at the very top was a beautiful golden pyramid. Surrounding the Wizard Tower were hundreds of different colors―green, purple, pink. Colin had never felt so amazed.

On either side of him along Wizard Way, we're tall silver torch posts. Near the end, the group stopped. A wall surrounding the Wizard Tower had a silver gateway that was the entrance to the Wizard Tower courtyard. The Great Arch glinted in the torchlight. The inside of the arch was lined with lapis lazuli. They passed through the Great Arch and entered the courtyard. In front of them, the marble steps leading up to the tall brilliant silver doors looked welcoming. Colin and Eliza were overcame with a sudden dizziness, but they continued to walk up to the silver doors.

Colin was so lightheaded, he didn't hear what Queen Jenna mumbled as the silver doors swung open. Colin had never ever been around this much Magyk. He thought he was dreaming when the grainy floor spelled out: Welcome, Colin Well. Welcome, Eliza Ellys.

Colin looked around the entrance hall. A young man in purple hurried up to them, but before they could greet him, both Eliza and Colin toppled over onto the man in purple. Before everything went dark, the last thing Colin saw was Eliza falling into him and he felt himself crash into the purple man.


	7. Chapter 6―The ExtraOrdinary Wizard

Colin opened his eyes. He was staring straight up at a green and blue cloth ceiling of a tent. He turned his head to his right and saw Eliza lying in a comfortable looking bed. She was sound asleep. Careful not to wake Eliza, Colin sat up in bed. He was wearing a pair of dark green pajamas with black buttons. He stood up and padded over to the door flap. Pushing it back, he stepped out into the light. Around him was a circle of tents exactly like the one he had just exited. All of the tents were in a circle of twelve in a room with a tall ceiling. The tents were held up by ropes from the points of the roofs connected to the ceiling.

Colin listened hard. Coming from almost all the tents, he could hear breathing. He walked over to a tall, arched door set into the wall. Quietly, he pushed open the door. Suddenly in a blue lighted corridor with four other doors along it. At the end of the hall was a spiral staircase that was spinning. Taking notice of the (what he thought was the best) Magyk, Colin walked over and stepped on, forgetting that he probably wasn't allowed to go wandering around. Then it struck him. He was in the Wizard Tower. How did he manage to end up sleeping here? Suddenly all the excitement from last night rushed back to him and he smiled. Now he needed to find Septimus Heap.

The stairs were on their way up, going at an ideal speed. Up and up, Colin went. Soon, he became dizzy and he had to close his eyes. After a few seconds, when he opened his eyes, a girl of about fourteen was standing three steps above him.

"First time?" she asked.

Colin nodded. Around her waist she wore an apprentice belt, fastened around a short woolen, green tunic. She had on green leggings and boots lined with fur. Her hair was fashioned into a thin, straight braid that hung down her back.

"I just got on from the Sick Bay. I'm Tod by the way. TodHunter Moon." She smiled. "You?"

"I'm Colin," said Colin quietly.

"Oh." Her smile faded. "You're The one who fainted last night. Onto Septimus. You and another girl."

Colin's face burned. He was so embarrassed. But he just nodded.

"Hey. That's okay. I totally understand." Tod laughed. "I'm going up to the ExtraOrdinary's rooms. You wanna come?"

"Yes please," blurted out Colin a little too eagerly.

A few seconds later they were marching up to a huge purple door. When the door noticed Tod, it swung open immediately, revealing an impressive spectacle. A commodious room waited beyond the door. In the middle of the room was a plush sofa on which an odd looking man that Colin had never seen before slept. In front of that was a huge fireplace with blazing flames that warmed the whole room. Several windows around the room allowed the blinding winter light to be let in. Doors led off to different rooms on the opposite wall. Tod and Colin walked over to the sofa. One of the doors along the wall burst open and a striking man in heavy purple robes appeared. His straw colored wavy hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Around his neck he wore the astonishing Akhu Amulet―a teardrop amulet of gold and lapis worn by all ExtraOrdinary Wizards.

"Colin. Do you normally fall into people?" he said happily.

Colin blushed and looked at the floor. I'm such an idiot, he thought.

"It's okay, really." He laughed. Suddenly stern he turned to Tod. "Tod, you must inform me where you go in the morning. Dandra had to send one of the Sick Bay Wizards to tell me where you were."

"I'm sorry," said Tod.

"Colin please come in and sit down." Septimus motioned into the doorway he had just come out of. Colin obeyed and walked nonchalantly into the door, trying to make up for hus glorious fall last night. Colin had just walked into the kitchen. Lining the wall was a counter with a stove. In the middle of the room was a long table where the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and his or her Apprentice dined. Septimus pointed to a chair at the table as he walked over to the stove. Tod sat beside Colin and smiled. Septimus returned with a tray of hot chocolate.

"How are you?" Septimus asked as he sat down.

"I―I'm good. This place makes me feel...weird," said Colin, cradling his warm cup in his hands.

"Good weird or bad weird?" Septimus asked.

"Good."

"That's good," said Septimus.

"Good," added Tod.

"Um. Mr. Heap?" Colin asked nervously. He didn't think it would be this hard to tell him.

"Please, calk me Septimus."

"Oh, okay. Septimus?"

"Yes?" Septimus smiled.

"There's these people that are coming..." Colin trailed off.

"Oh, yes. I know. Queen Jenna and Marwick told me last night after you and Eliza had been put to bed."

Colin felt relieved. He didn't think he was brave enough to tell the ExtraOrdinary Wizard that someone was about to attack his Castle. Colin finished off his cup of hot chocolate. He looked down into the mug. Along the sides, the last few minutes of chocolate was stained.

"Also, I see you met my Apprentice, Tod." Septimus looked to Tod. She smiled at Colin again.

"I've only been you're Apprentice for two years," said Tod.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're not the best and most helpful," replied Septimus. "Okay, then. Let's go down to the Great Hall, shall we?"

The trio stood up and walked out of the room. Out in the hallway, the purple door closing silently behind them, they rushed to the stairs. It was still going the same, perfect speed. This time, Colin tried not to get dizzy. He wasn't going to close his eyes in front of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. Farther and farther they went, down the stairs. How could any building be this tall, Colin wondered. But soon, they arrived at the blue lit corridor that led to the tents. Still, they went down farther. Immediately after that floor had passed, the next one was so bright that he had to close his eyes. He squinted at the room that they had just entered. It was a huge vaulted area where seven tall columns reached up high to a point on the blue ceiling. The ceiling was scattered with different constellations and stars, all twinkling brightly. But as they went down, the blue sky faded into a pale green. Suddenly, the green turned into brightly colored pictures.

Septimus saw him looking and said, "Those pictures show scenes from the history of the Wizard Tower. Cool, isn't it?"

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they stepped off onto the sandlike surface of the floor. Multicolored Magyk words on the floor spelled out Good morning, ExtraOrdinary Wizard. It was soon followed by Good morning, Apprentice. The floor finally contorted into Good morning, Colin Well.

Colin smiled. What he had thought was a dream from last night―the floor greeting people―was actually real.

Across the hall, they heard a scream. They looked over and saw Eliza standing by a door with a shadow over her. A tall mass―ten feet tall―of orange hair stood over her.

"Get it away," she screamed.

Septimus rushed over and grabbed Eliza's shoulder. He pulled her back to Tod and Colin. One look from Eliza, Colin could see that she was confused. It's fine, he mouthed. Eliza's eyes were wide. How could this be fine, she wondered.

Septimus smiled casually at the orange mass. "Fair Grula-Grula. I pray that you follow me?"

The Grula-Grula nodded―if someone could say that a Grula-Grula can nod. It suddenly began to shimmer. With a loud whoosh, the creature became a man in a suit with spectacles. Septimus led the Grula-Grula over to a pair of tall silver doors. Mumbling the password, the doors swung open, letting the chill of the winter morning in.

"I bid you a very good day, Fair Grula-Grula." With that, Septimus left the Grula-Grula standing out in the cold. The silver doors swung back closed and Septimus turned to Tod, Colin and Eliza. Outside, the Grula-Grula set off in the direction of a nice cloak shop that he was so very fond of, but he had no idea why.

Inside, Septimus turned to Eliza. She was expecting a stern comment on her wandering, but instead the ExtraOrdinary Wizard said, "I just hope the Grula-Grula doesn't get into too much trouble."

The silver doors swung back open and a boy of about eleven came rushing in. He had on green apprentice robes with thick black boots. His hair was a red brown color. He ran up to Septimus. Catching his breath, he stood up straight and said, "Septimus Heap. I've returned with a message from Marcia Overstrand. It is as follows: Septimus. I need you to come to my Keep. I have a problem with the Ways and I'm not going to do anything unless you're here. Come immediately. Message ends."

Septimus, thinking that this boy reminded him of a message rat, sighed.

"Bother," said Septimus.

Ten minutes later, Septimus, Tod, Colin, Eliza, and the Apprentice boy―whose name was Marston Farstray, we're standing outside in the bitter winter chill, staring at a purple chalk outline of an archway drawn onto the side of the steps on the Wizard Tower. Colin and Eliza had rushed back to the Apprentice Dorms to get dressed.

"Tod?" asked Septimus.

Tod nodded. "It's okay to go in."

"It's a Hidden arch," explained Septimus. "One of the Ancient Ways. They're Ancient Magyk archways that lead all over the world. Very hard to navigate. Not if you're Tod, though." He looked down at Tod. She pulled out a blue box and opened the top. Inside was a small pointer with an arrow at one end on the other was a dome of lapis. There was also a leather pouch with an onyx sphere and a curve of silver.

"It shows me how to travel the Ways," explained Tod.

Colin and Eliza nodded in wonder. Archways that led all over the world. They could go anywhere.

"But we won't need it just going to Marcia's Hub." Septimus motioned for Tod to put the object―called a Pathfinder―away. "Okay everyone. Let's go. And Tod, I know it probably won't happen, but grab Colin's hand so we don't lose him. And Colin, grab Eliza's."

Colin tried not to blush as Tod grabbed his hand and held it tightly. Suddenly, he saw Septimus step back from the Way as it began to glow. He nodded and together, Septimus leading, they walked through the Way.

In her keep, Marcia was in distress. All the Seals on the Ancient Ways were disintegrating away. Every time she tried to replace a few of them, they disappeared. She had an Apprentice at her Keep from the Wizard Tower. He was running errands and Marcia decided to use him to tell Septimus about the problem with the Ways. Frantically, she had sent the boy back through Way VII.

While she waited in the Hub for Septimus to arrive, she thought it over. Some Magyk more powerful than hers must be controlling the Ways. Marcia wasn't aware that was something a person could do. It would take a lot of Magykal energy to control a whole Hub.

Only Claudius Drummin was in the Hub to keep her company. Lucius and Fabius were somewhere else in the Keep, tending to other things. Marcia enjoyed having the Drummins around. Drummins are humanoid creatures that Marcellus Pye had created in the Great Chamber of Fyre underneath the Castle. As Claudius settled down on the steps leading out of the Hub (the Hub was underground), Marcia remained standing. She paced back and forth in the circular Hub. Surrounding her were twelve Ancient Ways. All had tunnels leading about twenty feet into the wall, and then they stopped. Each one had a white mist at the end―the Vanishing Point.

While pacing back and forth, Marcia noticed a movement in Way VII. Suddenly, Septimus appeared, followed by Tod, a familiar looking boy, a girl, and the Apprentice boy who she had sent to fetch Septimus.

"You took your time, Septimus." Marcia put her hand on her hips. Her multicolored cloak was very comfortable.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry, Marcia." Septimus nodded. "What was it that you wanted to show me?"

"This." Marcia walked over to one of the Ancient Ways―Way XI. "All the Seals disappeared on every single one of the Ways." She stopped. "Septimus, I see you brought Colin from the Port along with you."

"Yes. And his friend, Eliza," said Septimus.

Marcia smiled. "It's very nice to meet you all," she said.

"It's good to see you again," said Colin, trying to be social.

Marcia nodded. "Yes, yes. We need to figure this out." She walked right up to Way XI. "When I try to replace the Seal, it doesn't work. See?"

Before it even happened, Colin knew that something bad was about to occur. Marcia lifted up her hands to place the Seal on the Way. When she did, there was a flash of light and Marcia was thrown back against the stone floor hard.

"Marcia!" cried Septimus running over to her. She sat up, holding her head.

"I―I'm okay. That's never happened before on any of the other Ways when I've tried to Seal them."

Septimus helped Marcia up. Tod looked frightened.

"I've never seen a Way do that before," said Tod shakily.

Marcia brushed off her cloak. "Well, whatever's through that Way isn't good. And we're going to figure out what's behind it."


	8. Chapter 7―Pathfinding

In the Hub, Marcia and Septimus waited for Milo. Marcia's arms were crossed, tapping her foot on the ground she said, "Where is he? He was supposed to be here when you arrived."

"I have no idea. I'm sure he'll be here soon, though." Septimus sat down by Claudius on the steps.

"I hope so," said Marcia impatiently.

Upstairs, seated around the fireplace on the floor in the Great Chamber were four figures.

Marston had been telling Tod, Colin and Eliza all about his day and his Apprenticeship. Soon after he finished, Colin felt something that he had only felt before with Eliza. These people were his friends. He trusted them enough to tell the story of the Knight while Eliza nodded in agreement.

When he finished, Marston said, "Then that must be what's guarding the Ways."

"It all makes sense," said Tod. She pulled out a much-folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she laid it out on the floor. It was a map. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll have an explanation."

While Tod wrote down numbers on a different piece of paper, Colin, Eliza, and Marston watched intently. After about ten minutes, Tod held up the paper.

"I've looked at all the different ways. The reinforcements could come through the Ways to the Castle. That's why they're blocking them, so they don't have any inconveniences―like Seals or people coming through. Also, if they're sailing I've taken the time of how long you said until they'd be here and I've found three places that equal that amount of time. Here."

Tod pointed to three different places on her map. One was on an island, one was on a peninsula, and the other was inland. "These are all the places that it would take to sail here in that time." Colin, Eliza, and Marston nodded in unison. "But I've also taken time for them to get ready to leave. I've subtracted three days from the week they were going to be here. That means they'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Oh." Colin was frantic. If they were leaving tomorrow then there was no time to stop them.

"But," Tod added. "I've got this." She held out the box that contained her PathFinder. "With this we can track them down and explore all the places. We'll be able to find them by tomorrow. But we must leave now."

"But what about Septimus?" asked Eliza.

"Milo and Marcia? We need time." Marston added.

"Didn't you guys hear? There is no time. We have to do this now," said Colin. He knew this was important. Even though he'd only been to the Castle once, it felt like more of a home than the Port ever had.

"Thank you, Colin." Tod nodded and stood up. Colin stood up with her. He held out his hand to Eliza.

She sighed. "Okay, I'll go. If it really means that much to you." Eliza grabbed Colin's hand and stood up. Marston shook his head, smiling and stood up.

"I'm not staying here by myself," he said, throwing his hands up in the air.

Suddenly, Septimus and Marcia appeared. "We're going out to meet Milo on his ship. Are you coming?" asked Septimus eagerly.

Tod shook her head. Septimus looked crestfallen, but he and Marcia hurried outside.

"If we're doing this, let's go right now," said Eliza.

The four walked down into the Hub. Claudius was sitting at the bottom of the steps. They passed him and walked over to Way XI. Tod turned to Claudius and said, "Claudius, when Marcia comes back, please tell her that we've went to stop the reinforcements." With that, Tod stepped into Way XI. "Grab each other's hands."

Holding out her PathFinder, Tod stepped into the Way. Together, they walked to the end of the tunnel. The white must surrounded them and Tod gasped. She loved going through the Ways. It always made her head spin, but it was amazing.

Light streamed from the PathFinder as they walked into the mist. As each person walked into the Vanishing Point, they were enveloped in a shining silver bubble. The mist outside the bubble swirled around it. Colin was overawed. He'd never felt this sort of Magyk before, not even when he came from the Castle into Marcia's Hub. At last, when the bubble closed around Marston, Colin was almost sick. He felt as if he was traveling at breakneck speed. The feeling of traveling to anywhere in the world overcame Colin and he laughed. Eliza looked at him like he was insane, but Colin ignored her.

In front of Tod, she saw the outline of an archway. A moment later, she was walking out of the Vanishing Point. At last, when Marston finally exited, there was a pop and they were plunged into sudden darkness.

"It's okay, guys. Here, use this." Tod let go of Colin's hand. There was a crackle and a stick of light appeared, held by Tod. She handed it to Colin.

"What is this place?" Colin asked as he walked out into a Hub, looking around the derelict place that was covered in vines and creepers. The floor was littered with animal skeletons. Small streams of water ran all across the floor, and more water dripped from the ceiling.

"It's a Hub, but it's been left to ruins," explained Tod. She held up her PathFinder as it pointed to a mass of rubble where an Ancient Way should have been. "Oh, this one's caved in. We'll have to move the rocks."

Half an hour later, a small space was cleared, just big enough for everyone to fit through. They went into the Way and continued their long journey.

Way after Way, they traveled. They went through one that was partly filled with water, one that smelled of earth and dirt, and one that smelled of the salty sea. Finally, they reached an archway and Tod said, "This one leads to one of the places where the reinforcements might be. Get ready."

Colin readied himself to kick, punch or bite. Anything could be through there. They stepped into the Way. After the bubble surrounded them, and the feeling of traveling at breakneck speed kicked in, they saw darkness ahead. When the bubbles finally left them, Colin understood why it was so dark. Huge rocks―too big for them to move―covered the Way, blocking light from entering.

Colin, Eliza, and Marston began trying to shift the rocks, but it didn't do any good. The rocks stayed put.

"They wouldn't go through here. It's almost impossible to move the rocks," said Colin. Tod nodded and turned back into the Way. Together, the four went through it again.

After a few more Ways that ranged from incredibly hot to unnaturally cold, they came to another Way that Tod stopped at.

"This is another. Get ready again. I have no idea what might be through here." But suddenly Tod was confused. She remembered that you needed a piece of the earth from where you were going for the PathFinder to work. So why was it working now? Tod tried to push it out of her mind. At least it was taking them to where they needed to go. But Tod had no idea that if the people from the Knight had control over a Hub, they also had the ability to put a Darke Charm on Tod's PathFinder that would lead her right into a trap.

After emerging from that Ancient Way, the bubbles left them and they stood blinking in the sunlight that shone down the tunnel. They stepped out of the Way into a courtyard. The air was cold, but the sun shone in the sky, casting a bright glow that lit up the courtyard. In the middle was a fountain and the walls of the courtyard were lined with the other Ways. On the opposite wall was a pair of large golden doors with lapis streaks.

Cautiously, the children walked up to the fountain. The water was running smoothly from the top into the pool at the bottom. It was as wide as Tod was tall. It was about ten feet high and when Colin stuck his hand it the water, it was warm. Not only that, but it was also Magyk. Carved along the basin were pictures were hewn into the side. They showed images of a great serpent, one of a dragon, and one of―this surprised Tod―an Orm.

Colin looked up at the sky. Surrounding the courtyard were towers and turrets made from an orange stone that none of the children had ever seen before. In one of the towers, a bell was ringing, sending the chiming sound all throughout the courtyard.

Suddenly, the golden doors on the far wall burst open and a great woman swathed in orange came walking out. She saw the children and stopped.

Before they could do anything, the woman came rushing over to them with her arms outstretched. She threw them around Colin and squeezed him until he couldn't breathe.

"Ra! It is so nice to finally see you!" said the woman in a very weird accent, letting go of Colin and looking at him. "Come this way, please, Ra. You have people to meet. I knew you would come." With that, the woman ushered the children through the golden doors into whatever lay beyond.


	9. Chapter 8―The Keep of Magyk

"My name is Saara-Ra," said the woman in orange as she led them through a paved street. Orange stone buildings reared up around them, their windows glinting in the sun. Turrets with pointed roofs rose above those, casting shadows onto the street.

"But I don't understand. What is this place?" asked Colin, looking around.

"Ra, don't you know?" Saara-Ra's accent making the whole sentence sound like the most important thing in the world.

"No―wait. Why do you keep calling me Ra?" said Colin.

"Do you truly not know?" Saara-Ra stopped and looked into Colin's eyes. Colin's eyes began to feel dry, but he didn't know why. Her large green eyes were locked onto Colin's blue eyes and he couldn't stop looking into hers. Finally, Saara-Ra turned and resumed walking down the street.

"It will all be explained in time, Ra." The woman mumbled.

They rounded a corner at the end of the street and Colin gasped. In front of him stood the most amazing building he had ever seen―more brilliant than the Wizard Tower. It was a tall building made completely out of the orange stone, lapis, and gold. It's many windows glinted in the sun and the huge golden doors shined at the top of the orange steps. It had one tall Tower sticking up into the sky, topped with a golden roof, just like the Wizard Tower. Battlements surrounding the tower showed how well-protected the building was. A long cobbled path led up to it from the main street and it was surrounded by lapis and gold walls.

"This is the Keep of Magyk," explained Saara-Ra, stopping. "It was built by none other than Hotep-Ra and his faithful friends and followers. It is believed to be the most Magykal place in the world. It was built a very long time ago, and I am proud to say that I am the last remaining Ra. That is, until I met you, my dear." She looked at Colin.

"M―me? Related to Hotep-Ra?" Colin asked, utterly astounded. He knew who Hotep-Ra was from his book in the Port. He was the first ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the creator of the Wizard Tower.

Tod looked at him, aghast. She was so confused. How could Colin be related to Hotep-Ra, she thought. But then she remembered that Colin knew nothing about his family. He could be related to anyone, for all she knew.

Saara-Ra nodded. "He came here from a land far away filled with Ancient Magyk and built the Keep Magyk. He was a wonderful man, but after he left here, he went back to his home. It is said, that he left that place too, traveling to an odd place with a Queen. A few members of his family had stayed here, and they've been here for a very long time.

"A few hundred years later, after he left, some of his remaining relatives decided to set forth on this place that Hotep-Ra had traveled to―the Castle. They didn't know if―being the wonderful Wizard that he was―he had lived through those long years. But when they arrived, he was gone, and they decided to settle."

"So. . .does that mean that there's still people in his family at the Castle?" asked Colin.

"No, no. Not anymore. They've all died or moved to other places. But you, my dear. You are one of the last at the Castle, and you and I are the last ones here," Saara-Ra motioned to the city around them. "We are sacred people."

"Are you the ruler?" Eliza asked. Saara-Ra acted like she hadn't heard her and continued walking towards the building.

"Once the people here know you have returned, they will be grateful for your wise Magyk," said Saara-Ra.

"But I don't have any Magyk." Colin explained. They had just reached the lapis and gold walls. Saara-Ra led them along the wall until they reached a tall golden, barred gate. Pushing it open, Saara-Ra finished what she was saying, "I wouldn't be so sure. . ."

They walked up the narrow cobblestone path and up the orange stairs. They orange stone felt harder than iron when Colin put his hand on it. Saara-Ra stopped at the door, and, in a language that sounded completely unknown to all the children, she said a long and complex assemblage of difficult words.

The golden doors swung inward, revealing a dazzling sight. In front of them, large marble stairs swept up leading off left and right at the top. They were topped with lapis railing veined with gold. Beside these were well-polished silver suits of armor. They each had a large sword with a leather grip. The marble floor was polished and even. On either side of the staircase, a large golden door led off to another room.

"Welcome to the Entrance Hall. Left is the throne room, and right is the kitchen. Below us is the Underground Chamber and above us are many breathtaking rooms with an assortment of dangerous and great things," explained Saara-Ra. Marston thought back to a few days ago when he had just become an Apprentice. This lady―Saara-Ra―sounded like the Tower Tour Wizard at the Wizard Tower. He almost laughed because the Tour Wizard also acted like Saara-Ra.

Saara-Ra saw Marston smiling and glared at him. She turned on her heel and marched up the stairs to the first floor on the right. Leading the children down a wide hallway with a long brown rug running down the length of it, she gained speed. There were doors on every side of the corridor. "I'll be taking you to the Banquet Hall."

At the very end of the hall a tall window revealed the city. Orange stone towers were positioned all over the city. Colin looked out over the rooftops. In the distance he could see a lake―he thought―that opened up to the ocean, but he wasn't sure. Looming over the city were tall mountains casting a shadow over some of the buildings. The city was in a valley surrounded by bright green trees and grass.

"This way to the Banquet Hall," Saara-Ra snapped at Eliza, who was also looking out the window. In a more soothing voice, she addressed Colin, "Come, Ra."

The children followed her into a long room with a table that stretched the length of the room, with chairs positioned around it. Light poured in from the open windows, letting in a cool air. Saara-Ra told the children to sit, but she told Colin to sit at the head of the table. "Your servants will be in shortly." Saara-Ra nodded and hurried out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Servants?" Marston exclaimed, amazed. "How do you have servants?"

"I have no idea. But, at least they don't know it's my birthday," said Colin. Marston and Tod gaped at him.

"Colin! No! I forgot it was your birthday. I am so sorry!" Eliza wailed. "I feel like a terrible friend."

"You're not a bad friend. You're a great friend. But, since I'm older, I can boss you around now." Colin laughed. Eliza stuck her tongue out at him, but he looked away, directing his attention to Tod.

"So you're twelve now?" Tod asked Colin. He nodded. "Cool."

"Where are we?" Eliza said.

Tod pulled out her map of the Ancient Ways and layed it out on the table. "We're right here," she said, pointing to a circle on a peninsula. "We're kind of close to the Castle, actually."

The doors to the Banquet Hall suddenly bursted open, scaring Tod. She stuffed the map back into her tunic before anyone could see it. Colin stared at the people who were coming through the door. One by one, children, about the same age as Colin, came filing through the door. Finally, when the last one, a little girl who was about eight with curly red hair, entered the room, followed by Saara-Ra, the doors closed. All the servants lined up by the wall. In all there were only about ten, but they all looked miserable.

"These are not only you great friends, but they're also your loyal servants," Saara-Ra glared at the servants. She emphasized "great friends" making all of them put on forced smiles.

"I don't think I need―" began Colin.

Saara-Ra cut him off. "Oh, but you do. They are volunteers." She smiled nastily at the servants.

"Right. But I think I can manage on my own," explained Colin. "Anyways, we can't stay."

Saara-Ra looked crestfallen, then angry. But Colin didn't see her flash him the face full of anger. He felt bad about leaving this woman who had finally found who she was looking for, so he changed it to, "But, I suppose we can stay a little longer." Saara-Ra smiled and turned to the servants. But when he turned to look at Tod, Marston, and Eliza they all glared at him. Colin, the Knight, mouthed Marston. I know, but, Colin mouthed, motioning to the servants. Tod sighed. Saara-Ra turned back to the children.

"Dinner, anyone?" she said. Colin nodded politely. Using the same language she had used to open the Entrance Hall doors, Saara-Ra ordered a few of the servants to go down to fetch the food. Soon, they were back with trays filled with all kinds if foods―turkey, fish, potatoes, and all kinds of other things. They laid the trays down in front of the children and handed out silver plates. Marston smiled. Maybe it wasn't so bad of they stayed here.

Colin filled his plate with foods that he'd never seen before. At the end of dinner, he was so full it hurt his stomach. The sun had began to set outside, worrying Eliza.

An hour later, when dinner was finally over, Saara-Ra ordered a couple servants to bring over the dessert. The little girl who Colin had seen earlier came in carrying a bowl of strawberry spread. But before she could make it to the table, she tripped on the rug, flinging the spread. The bowl flew into the air and hit Saara-Ra in the face, splattering her in strawberries.

"Aaaarghh!" Saara-Ra yelled. "It's in my eyes, get it out! It's in my eyes." Saara-Ra began racing around the room like a demented ostrich, her arms flapping around. Finally, she tripped over the rug, falling into a chair. The chair snapped and splintered wood went flying in all directions.

She sat up in the rubble, using the tablecloth to wipe off her eyes. Saara-Ra stood up and pointed at the little girl in anger. "Throw her in the dungeons. Now!" screamed Saara-Ra. "And get me new clothes!"

They children couldn't help it. They began having fits of uncontrolled laughter. Marston and Colin fell out of their chairs, rolling on the floor. Saara-Ra looked like she had just rolled through garbage. Her hair was clumped and stained with strawberry spread. Her clothes were too, and she had bits of wood sticking to her. She glared at them. Behind her, two guards had come in and they were carrying the girl out of the room, screaming.

"Please. Show them to their rooms," Saara-Ra said. She forced a smile at Colin. "Thank you."

Colin, Eliza, Marston, and Tod were escorted out of the room by a couple of servants. They went down the hall and took the stairs up. When they eventually reached the tower at the top, Tod smiled. They entered the room, and Eliza gasped. The room's walls were made entirely from lapis veined with gold. The marble floor was swept. On the other side of the room was a silver spiral staircase that twisted up like a corkscrew. Just like in the Wizard Tower.

They were led over to the stairs and they stepped on. Colin almost fell backwards onto Marston. The Magyk he Felt in this tower had a different Feel from that in the Wizard Tower. It Felt much older. Colin smiled too. He was happy that he could Feel things like this now. He used to be uncertain of being Magykal but ever since Saara-Ra had told him about Hotep-Ra he felt more confident.

The spiral stairs continued upward. On and on, they went going up through the tower. Finally, they reached the top floor. A voice that sounded like it was coming from a megaphone said, "Now On: Floor 7 of the Tower―Floor 14 of the Keep of Magyk."

They stepped off and walked down a short corridor. At the end was a heavy purple door, just like in the Wizard Tower. "Here you are," said a little boy. The servants raced back to the stairs and were gone in an instant.

"Okay, then," said Tod. "How do we get this open?" She stepped up to the door and pushed on the handle. It didn't move. Next, she pulled, but it still did not move. Finally, Tod got frustrated with the "stupid idiot door" as she called it, and kicked it.

Colin stepped up to the door. "Please open?" he said.

The door swung open as if to say, "All you had to do was ask. . ." As they walked into the room, Tod glared at the door.

Inside was exactly like the Wizard Tower. Except along the walls were more trinkets and the room was cluttered with books. A fire was blazing in the hearth, heating the whole room.

"Okay, let's get to bed. It's really late." Eliza looked at the clock above the fireplace. Before anyone could say anything, Marston flopped down on the sofa. Within seconds, they heard his loud snores. Colin walked to the side of the room and opened a few chests set along the wall. He looked through all of them, and finally he found blankets. Colin threw the blankets down on the floor and layed down.

"Come on, Eliza. I'll show you the old Apprentice's Room," Tod said, leading Eliza up a flight of steps. Tod was overawed that she got to sleep in the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's bed! Or as close as it could be. She felt like the ExtraOrdinary Wizard.

While Colin was lying in front of the blazing fire, he drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming about the Knight ambushing the Castle.


	10. Chapter 9―The Trail

While Colin, Eliza, Marston, and Tod were enjoying their time in the Keep of Magyk, Marcia and Septimus had rushed down to the quay by the water. With the white stone tapping under her purple python shoes, Marcia waved to her husband, Milo, as she hurried out to the dock. He saw her awaiting the Cerys―his ship. Marcia tried to hide her annoyance when she saw the word "Cerys" painted on the side of the ship. Milo Banda was the widower of Queen Cerys―Queen Jenna's mother. Marcia pushed away the annoyance and sighed―Milo was never on time.

"Hello, Marcia! Hello, Septimus!" called Milo as the ship finally came to a stop. A few of the crew members hurriedly layed down the gangplank so Milo could go to meet Marcia. He steadily walked off the ship onto the dock. Marcia threw her arms around Milo and he kissed her. Septimus stood to the side uncomfortably―his old tutor was kissing his sister's dad.

Finally, Milo pulled away and turned to Septimus. "It's good to see you," he said, examining Septimus's purple robes.

"You too, Milo." Septimus said through his teeth. It wasn't really good to seem him. But Septimus had to mind his manners. He was the ExtraOrdinary Wizard now. Milo had left Jenna for her whole childhood and then decided to come back. Septimus didn't think that was a very good way to show that Milo loved Jenna.

"Milo, we've got something extremely important to discuss. Inside?" Marcia started. Milo nodded and smiled. Marcia escorted Milo up to her Keep. Before Marcia could push open the heavy door, Claudius Drummin had already wrenched it open. He was panting from running up the Hub stairs. Curse these tiny legs, he thought as he readied himself to tell Marcia the bad news.

Marcia saw Claudius. "Claudius!" she called out.

"The children―the children!" Claudius puffed. "They've gone!"

Marcia and Septimus were in the Keep in seconds, forgetting that Milo had just gotten back. Where? Marcia signed using the Drummin's sign language.

Here, Claudius signed. He showed Marcia down the Hub steps. At the bottom, he pointed to Way XI. "They said they went to stop the bloomin' ambush, whatever that means," said Claudius, forgetting his manners.

"Oh dear," Marcia said. "That's not good."

"That's really not good." Septimus walked over to Way XI. "This one's not like the others. You can go through it."

The other two Drummins came running down the stairs. They cannoned into Milo―who had followed Marcia and Septimus―knocking him forward.

"Terribly sorry, Mr. Banda." Lucius and Fabius picked themselves up off the ground. "We heard a ruckus."

"Yes, Tod and the other children had just passed through the Ways, Fabius." Marcia said, not looking at Fabiuz. She walked over to Septimus at Way XI. Marcia watched as Septimus closed his eyes. He put his hands on either side of the Way and Listened. There was nothing.

"I can't Feel anything, Marcia. It's like it never happened."

"Claudius," Marcia turned back to the Drummin. "Are you sure that's what they said? Everything?"

Claudius nodded. He didn't like it when his boss was worried―it was kind of scary.

Marcia closed her eyes, thinking hard. She smiled. She had thought of something, but she kept her eyes closed. "Septimus? Do you have anything of Tod's?"

"Uh, yeah. I think." Septimus felt his pockets for anything of his Apprentice's. Finally he found Tod's green ribbon that she would tie at the end of her braid. "Yes, I do."

"Place it in my hand, now." Septimus did as he was told. He knew Marcia was about to perform a complicated Find. It was dangerous when the Wizard didn't know anything about where the object―in this case, Tod―was. The Find could go wrong, backfiring and leave Marcia weak without any Magyk.

Keeping her eyes closed, Marcia held the ribbon up to her face. Septimus watched intently as Marcia took a deep breath in. She continued inhaling until Septimus thought she might pop―but he knew she wouldn't. Finally, she breathed out over the ribbon, casting a slow but steady stream of pink air over it. On and on, she breathed out, the pinkish air curling around the ribbon.

Finally, when Milo thought she could breathe out no more, she opened her eyes as the ribbon picked itself up off her hand. It stayed in the air, hovering. Marcia nodded and the ribbon shot into the air and through Way XI. "It will lead us to Tod. Let us hope that the other children are with her. Quickly, the Trail it leaves behind only lasts for seven hours."

Septimus smiled. Even though the Castle was in grave danger, he loved watching Magyk. It wasn't always fun to be doing instead of spectating.

"I'm ready," said Septimus immediately. He was immensely worrued about his Apprentice and the other children. Milo nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Let's go, then. There isn't a moment to lose," Marcia said confidently. But internally, she was not confident. Even if her Find did work, there was no way of telling where they'd end up. Or how they'd find the children. Marcia shuddered as she pushed that thought out of her mind.

The trio walked steadily into Way XI. Many miles away from the Keep, they emerged into a humid Hub. Only Marcia could see the Trail. She instructed Septimus to use his FlashLight, as she led them into another Way. Repeatedly, Marcia watched the Trail closely as they traveled through many Hubs.

After many Hubs, and many miles traveled, the trio emerged into a large, beautifully grand Hub. Huge cracked, but magnificent pillars held up the high ceiling. The stone floor was littered with rubble, but the Hub was still striking.

"It says that we're in a temple," explained Septimus, looking down at Marcia's much-folded map of the Ancient Ways.

"Yes, the Trail here is very faint," said Marcia worriedly.

"What does that―" Septimus began. He was cut off by a loud cry that came from behind a pair of large bronze doors positioned across the room. There was a loud boom and then the doors gave way. A large man with a gray cloak came striding out. Behind him was a large battering ram on wheels. He was followed by an aroused group of bandits. He saw Marcia, Septimus, and Milo.

"Grab them. . ." the man in gray said carelessly. A few bandits surged towards Marcia, but Milo stepped in front of her. He pulled out his long silver dagger. But at the same time the approaching bandits pulled out curved scimitars. Milo slashed at the closest bandit, but he disarmed Milo. He resorted to guarding Marcia with his body.

"Milo, I think I can fend for myself, thank you," said Marcia, annoyed. Milo looked embarrassed. His guard was down for only a few seconds, but that was enough time for the bandits to grab his arms. A few others grabbed Septimus and Marcia. The man in gray walked over to Milo. He grabbed his face and looked into his eyes.

"You'll do nicely. . ." the man in gray trailed off. He turned to Septimus and Marcia. "Throw the magicians in the Pit!"

Marcia tried to resist the bandits pulling her away from Milo. "Milo! Milo!" she called. Septimus managed to land a punch right on one of the bandit's nose, spewing blood everywhere. The bandit fell to the ground and didn't move. This just made the other bandits angry. The surged toward the door, carrying Septimus and Marcia with them.

Marcia looked back and caught a glance of the man in gray wave his hand in front of Milo's face, making him sleep. "No!" Marcia whipped around. The bandits cowered away as Marcia loomed over them. Suddenly, she pulled a FlashBang from her belt. She cast it through a break in the crowd of bandits. FlashBangs were not to be used lightly. It hit the man in gray square in the chest, knocking him of his feet. A few of the bandits rushed forward to catch him, but they were caught in the FlashBang too. It sent pieces of the rubble on the floor whizzing around. The rocky rubble collided with the bandits' heads. They screamed in terror and ran out of the Hub.

"Serves them right," muttered Marcia under her breath. The man in gray stood up, looking overly agitated.

"Seize her. Kill her if you have to, but just get rid of her!" More bandits surrounded Marcia, grabbing at her arms.

Suddenly, Septimus's voice was projected over all the shouts and yells. "Stop! We will go calmly! Just take us to the Pit." Marcia looked over at Septimus in bewilderment. He nodded reassuringly at her.

"Go!" the man in gray shouted. Before Septimus could change his mind, he and Marcia were pushed through the bronze doors. The bandits laughed as they escorted the two Wizards along a wide corridor. Marcia and Septimus were being ignored, but neither was going to test it.

Septimus made his way unnoticed over to Marcia. "Have you got a plan?" she asked.

"No, that's why I'm with you. You do, don't you?" Septimus asked worriedly, looking around. The floor was dusted with rubble and the ceiling had cracks as if it was about to cave in.

Marcia shook her head. Septimus suddenly smiled. In front of him, two bandits were carelessly bouncing down the corridor. The packs on their backs were overfilled. Hanging out of each of their packs were bandit cloaks. Septimus pointed to them and Marcia sighed. Everything always used to be so much easier, she thought. She nodded and watched as her old Apprentice casually moved up to the packs on the bandit's backs.

As carefully as he could, Septimus unbuttoned one of the packs. Without the notice of the bandit, he extracted the cloak. Next, he moved on to the other bandit. Just as Septimus undid the button, the bandit swung around. Luckily, Septimus had his hands at his sides. Quickly, but suspiciously, he looked away. The bandit eyed Septimus, but turned back around.

As fast as he could, Septimus pulled out what would be his cloak as he threw the other to Marcia. She swung it around her multicolored cloak and pulled up her hood. Septimus did the same and looked around. No one had noticed. The two Wizards fell back into the crowd, blending in with the bandits. They had to escape before they reached the Pit, or everyone would notice.

Finally, they migrated to the back of the group. While all the bandits continued walking, Septimus and Marcia turned around and hurried back down the hall, hoping their echoed footsteps would go unnoticed by the buffoon-like bandits.

Once they reached the bronze doors that led to the Hub, the shouts of "Where are they?" and "Find them!" began.

The Wizards stepped around the battering ram and pushed open the doors. Marcia gasped at what she saw. The man in gray had a hold of Milo. Milo looked dazed as he staggered in the man in gray's grip. He was being shown to an awful looking man that looked like a pirate. Septimus gasped, too. The pirate fit the description of the man of which was the captain of the Knight. Septimus acted fast. Instead of using Magyk, he charged the Captain. He tackled him to the ground and yelled to Marcia. "Get Milo! Go through the Way, I'll be right behind―" Septimus was thrown to the ground by the Captain. But Marcia understood what she needed to do. All out of FlashBangs, Marcia released a Scare that frightened the man in gray enough that Marcia could wrench Milo from his grasp. She whirred around and Looked for the Trail. On the opposite wall a pink trail that the ribbon had left sat in the air, leading them to Tod, Colin, Eliza, and Marston.

Quickly, she let Milo lean on her shoulder. Marcia sprinted as fast as she could over to the Way. She told Milo to go and looked back at Septimus. Her eyes widened as she saw blood dripping from his nose onto his purple ExtraOrdinary Wizard robes. Looking back to make sure Milo had gotten through, she did the only sensible thing. She ran over to Septimus just as he was about to get hit in the face and kicked the Captain in the shin.

"Go!" Marcia shouted. She ran after Septimus into the Way. Putting a Seal on it as they went through, she sighed with relief. They were one step closer to finding the children.


	11. Chapter 10―Escaping

A loud bang awoke Colin. He sat up off the floor. In the hearth, the fire had burned down to orange embers. He looked out the window into the early morning darkness. Marston was snoring loudly on the sofa, oblivious to the loud noise. Another bang shook the room, casting dust down from the ceiling. Colin watched beyond the windows as a bright orange light illuminated the night. Suddenly, there was a loud scream that pierced the quietness. Colin was on his feet in seconds.

He looked down at Marston. Colin reached down and gently shook him awake. "Marston. Something bad is happening. You have to get up."

"Wasswrong?" Marston mumbled sleepily.

"There's screams and―" As if on que, a third bang shook Marston out of his drowsiness.

"Where?" Marston sat up. Down below the floor they were on, a loud shriek set footsteps running around them. In seconds, Tod came running down the stairs and Eliza rushed out of one of the rooms.

"What was that?" Tod asked.

Colin shrugged. "I have no idea. We should go make sure everyone is alright." The children quickly grabbed their things and rushed out the door to the spiral staircase. Even though it was dark, and the stairs should have been on nighttime mode, they were whizzing fast on emergency mode. But Tod didn't actually know if they had the same modes as in the Wizard Tower―or if the staircase here had modes at all. The children held on as they were carried through the Tower. When the reached the bottom floor, they rushed across the cold room onto the normal stairs.

Once they left the Tower, all around them was pandemonium. Servants of all ages―children to adults―were running around the main part of the Keep of Magyk. There were shouts and screams. Colin could here a distant sobbing, but he had no time to help. He had to find out what was causing this.

As they rushed down the stairs, there was another boom, this time louder, and a lot closer. Finally, they reached the Entrance Hall. There were shouts of "Stay inside!" and "Don't go out there!" in every direction. But Colin disobeyed the screams of terror. Instead, he lead his friends to the golden doors. Tod placed her hands on the doors.

"The Magyk has left. They're just ordinary doors," she said as she drew her hands away.

"Let's go, then." Colin wrenched open the door on the right. Just as he was about to step outside, a small hand grabbed his. He stopped and looked back. The little girl with red hair that spilled the strawberry spread on Saara-Ra was looking up expectantly at him.

"Can I go? I can't stay here," said the girl sadly.

"Of course," said Colin, confused. "What's your name?"

"Kloud. My name is Kloud Princeton."

"Your name is Cloud? Like the things in the sky?" asked Marston, laughing.

"No," Kloud said defensively. "Kloud. With a 'K'."

"Okay, it doesn't matter what letter, we just need to know what's going on. Do you know?" Colin knelt down in front of Kloud.

"It's Saara-Ra. She's set her dragon loose on the city."

Colin stared at Kloud. "What? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I saw it out my cell window. Then the guards came to get me, but I kicked them and ran away," explained Kloud. Eliza smiled. She liked Kloud.

"Do you have family here?" Eliza asked.

"Not anymore. They've all gone." Kloud said emptily. Kloud's eyes began to we'll up with tears.

"You can come with us, then. We can be your friends," Eliza confidently said, motioning to Colin, Marston, and Tod.

Kloud nodded. Eliza grabbed her hand and turned to Colin. He smiled as he turned and walked out the door.

Outside, there were more screams than Colin had ever heard. As they ran down the narrow cobblestone path, Colin looked up. Smoke was drifting up from an brightly lit city. But it wasn't illuminated by candle light. It was illuminated by Dragon Fyre.

Suddenly, everything became extremely dark. Colin looked up and realized why. Flying over them was the huge bulk of a dragon. It beat it's wings and sent Colin's hair blowing every which way.

It roared, sending the ground shaking. Colin watched in terrified awe as the dragon let out a huge stream of Fyre, it's flames leaping down onto buildings, sending them alight. The children began running as fast as they could. Colin was leading them to the Hub. Before he could get through the gate, out of the courtyard, a booming voice rang over all the screams.

"Colin Well-Ra! You will stay were you are. The city is being rid of the impure. Soon, there will only be those of Magyk blood to serve us. Do not leave." The voice belonged to Saara-Ra. Her voice seemed to come from all around them. Every time Colin tried to focus on where it was coming from, it moved.

"Run!" Colin yelled at his friends. He didn't want them to fall prey to Saara-Ra's hypnotizing voice. They began racing to the gate. A horizontal purple line of Magyk began running down the gate as they reached it.

"Hurry! She's trying to Seal it!" Tod yelled. She shoved open the gate before the Seal was finished. After everyone was out, the Seal finished with a pop, keeping everyone who was in the Keep trapped. Colin turned to the street. Fear struck him as he realized he didn't remember which way they had come from. He was too caught up in the thought of being related to Hotep-Ra earlier that day.

He looked down the street. He didn't want to end up lost with the dragon flying around. But Colin panicked. He chose a side alley that wound down into the ground in a tunnel. As they ran down it, the roar of the dragon and the shouts of people echoed around them. The orange stone was easy to see in the dark and soon, Colin had run out of the tunnel.

He stopped. They hadn't gone through a tunnel before. He continued running. As long as they were away from the dragon and Saara-Ra, anywhere was okay. They were now in a narrow, crooked street. Along it were only the backs of orange stone buildings. Some of the houses and shops were made from wood, but most of the ones that were made of wood were burning.

At the end of the street, they came to a dead end. Above them, Saara-Ra's voice called, "You cannot hide!"

Colin felt terrible. He had led his friends into a trap. He knew he shouldn't have trusted Saara-Ra in the first place. Just as Colin was about to admit how stupid he felt a muffled voice coming from a door on their left said, "Colin, this way. . ."

Colin had no choice but to obey. The voice sounded vaguely familiar and trusting. As Colin walked through the door he tried to get a look at the man, but his face was shadowed by his hood. The children were in a dimly-lit hallway that led down a flight of steps. They walked down it into the light of a musty old room. The walls were peeling and the floor was unswept.

"Colin. Eliza. I didn't think to see you again. Tod," the man said as he followed them into the room. He pulled back his hood. Colin stared.

"Marwick?" Eliza gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot to mention. I travel the Ancient Ways frequently." Marwick smiled. "I see you got yourselves into a bit of trouble."

"You forgot to mention?" Colin asked, smiling too. "Of course you did." Marwick laughed.

"There are a few other things I didn't talk about either, but that's for another time." Marwick's smile vanished. "What are you doing here?" he asked worriedly.

Colin saw in Marwick's eyes that he thought they had run away from the Castle so he explained the situation. "We haven't run away. We're trying to stop the reinforcements for the Knight. It's not running away if we're helping and we go back. Or at least I don't think it is."

"Ah. I understand. I would have done the exact same thing, so don't worry. But I can help you." Marwick looked very serious. "The reinforcements aren't here. There's just that evil woman."

"You mean the one that's part of Colin's family?" Eliza asked. Marwick looked confused. Eliza elaborated. "She's a relative of Hotep-Ra and so is Colin."

"Oh. I didn't know that," said Marwick. "You should be proud, Colin."

At that moment, Colin didn't know what he felt. He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. He felt amazed that he was getting to travel the world, but scared of the reason why he was there. So all Colin did was nod.

"If you guys can get away, I think that I can take care the dragon," said Marwick. This got Colin's attention.

"What?" Colin and Tod said in unison. "By yourself?" added Eliza.

"No, I have 'helpers' here in the city. Just leave it to us and you'll never hear from Saara-Ra again. If that's what you want," explained Marwick.

"It is what I want. I think that woman is wretched. She was going to kill everyone who wasn't Magykal. She's a terrible person," said Colin harshly.

"Then go. Take the tunnel back out to the main street. Follow it to the end, then there'll be another street. You should see the doors to the Hub. Go through those and then get away as fast as you can. Good luck on stopping the ambush. I have faith in you and everyone in the Castle is counting on you, remember that." With that, Marwick disappeared through a door on the other side of the room.

Colin stood still in the room. Everything was happening so fast. But he knew he had to calm down. Remembering what Marwick had said, he took a deep breath in, then let it out. "Let's go."

Getting back to the main street that ran to the Keep of Magyk was easy. Soon, the children were cautiously, but quickly, running down the street. It was easy not to be seen since there were so many other people from the city running around in terror. At the end of the street, they turned left and near the end of that path, they saw the huge golden and lapis doors that led to the Hub.

As fast as they could, they ran to the doors. They opened as Colin ran up to them, allowing them to pass. Once inside, he looked at Tod. She already had out her PathFinder. Pushing away the fear that it was leading them somewhere bad, she held the object in her hand. It pointed to a Way on their right. Walking around the beautiful fountain, and into the archway, Colin sighed with relief as the silver bubble enveloped him at the Vanishing Point. He heard Kloud gasp with excitement behind him and smiled.

Above the Hub, the sun had just began to rise on the green horizon. Time was ticking away.


	12. Chapter 11―The Last Hub

Colin's silver bubble incasing left him and he walked out of the Way. Above them was a low stone ceiling. Colin was ready to fight anyone or anything that tried to attack him, but everything was still.

"This is the last Hub that they could be in, Tod?" Colin asked uncertainly. He looked around. The Hub looked much like Marcia's with steps leading out.

"Yes. I know it is. We only had to go through one Way to get here. It's a little earlier than what is was back at the Keep of Magyk," explained Tod. "I'm not sure where everyone is at, though."

"Maybe they've left?" suggested Marston. Colin looked at him, surprised. He hadn't thought of that. Maybe Tod had been wrong and they've already left. Maybe they're already on their way to the Castle. Colin shuddered at the thought of returning to the Castle, seeing it already attacked. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

"We need to look around. Let's go upstairs." Colin gestured to the narrow steps leading up. He went first, followed by Tod, Eliza, Kloud, then Marston.

Colin emerged into a dark room. The only light came from the tall, thin windows. Moonlight streamed through the blue-colored glass, making the floor look like the ocean. Colin walked over to the window. Outside, he could see blurry shapes through the colored glass. He decided to open a large wooden door set into the stone wall that led outside. The room was already chilly, but when Colin opened the door, letting it swing inward, a powerful gust of cold wind hit him in the face. He opened his eyes, looking out into the freezing early morning air. In front of him were wide steps, going down at a gentle incline until they reached a gravel path. The path led down to a wide expanse of water. On the far side of the water was more land. Colin guessed they were in a bay. The gravel path led straight into a stone boathouse. The only thing Colin didn't see was the huge mountain rearing up behind him, casting a huge shadow that stopped right at the building they were in.

Tod stood beside him. "It's beautiful." They looked out to the water where the setting moon's reflection was.

Colin nodded in agreement. He watched as Tod pulled out her map and looked at it. She gasped. "There's―there's a volcano near here."

Suddenly, with no warning, she rushed outside and down the steps. She stopped on the gravel path and looked back at Colin. But he noticed she was looking just above him. Above the building. He ran out to her, leaving the door open. He gasped at what he saw. Standing tall above them, blocking out a part of the sky was a tall mountain.

"It's a volcano. An active one. See that?" said Tod, pointing up at the top. An orange glow illuminated the top. Colin knew that the glow was from lava deep inside the volcano. "Listen."

Colin listened hard to the still night air. He could just make out a faint chant coming from the distant top. "What is it?" he asked worriedly.

"It's them. The reinforcements. I know it. I can feel it," said Tod.

"Like―like a Magyk Feel?" asked Colin in awe.

"No. I just know," said Tod. Colin looked at her.

"I think it's them, too," he said after a few minutes. "But how do we get up there?"

"I don't know. We'll have to look around at the base of the volcano. Are you ready to go?" Tod asked Colin.

"Let me go tell the others―" Colin was cut off by Tod with a big "No."

"It'll be too dangerous. I'm fine with you going up there, but I don't want to put that many people in danger." Tod shifted uncomfortably, knowing Colin would retort.

"That is most certainly not a good idea," said Colin. Then, thinking that he hadn't proved his point, he added, "I need them."

"Colin you don't understand. This is extremely dangerous. They―"

"No, you don't understand. I thought you would. You have friends don't you?" Colin asked harshly. "What would they say?"

Tod thought about Oskar and Ferdie. She knew that they would be angry if she left without them. Then, suddenly and guiltily, she thought about the Tribe of Three, the group that her, Oskar, and Ferdie had created. Finally, after pondering this for a few more seconds Tod said, "Okay. They can come. But please hurry. I'll be waiting here."

Colin said his thanks and rushed back into the building. Tod looked at the stone building that housed the Hub. It had a low roof, pointed at the top. It only had one floor and the Hub. Tod looked down to the boathouse. Two torchposts stood on either side of the entrance, lighting up the doorway. She wondered if any boats were in there. Suddenly, Tod was overcome with a wave of sadness. She thought back to her simple life in her PathFinder village. She missed that. But she missed her dad, Dan Moon, more.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Colin finally persuaded Kloud to come outside. She had said that it was "freezing out there and the cold can just shove off."

Finally, Colin got her to come outside with Eliza and Marston.

"Are you ready?" Tod asked them as they reached her. Colin nodded. "Okay, let's go."

They set off up to the base of the volcano. A huge cliff stood before them, and that, they thought, was where the entrance probably was. If not, they would have to start climbing, and Eliza didn't think that she was at all prepared for hanging off the side of a mountain in the early morning hours.

After about ten minutes, they reached the cliff face. Colin instructed them to check all around on the wall of rock. It stretched about two hundred feet and the children were right in the middle of it.

After several minutes of tedious searching, Eliza called out from the right side of the rock wall. Colin rushed over to her. If Eliza hadn't have grabbed Colin and stopped him, he would have ran right off the steep drop beside her. The ground fell away immediately into the water, a hundred foot drop.

"Woah, watch out," Eliza said as Colin steadied himself. Tod and Marston ran up beside him. Kloud had been standing by Eliza's side the whole time they were searching. It really annoyed Colin because they needed her help to find the entrance. It would have gone much faster.

"What is it?" Colin asked. Eliza pointed to a hole in the cliff. A few centimeters in was a plate of a smooth, black substance.

A shout from Tod scared everyone. "I know what that is! Septimus told me about one in the Castle. It's a moving chamber. Here, watch." Tod extended her hand out to the black plate. Pushing her whole wait into her hand placed flat on the plate, a bright green light glowed bright behind it. To their left an oval door slid silently open. Tod gestured inside. Everyone stepped inside, Tod being last.

The tiny chamber was lit by a small blue light. It's walls were smooth and shiny. They were black and blank, being featureless. Tod showed them a worn spot beside the door that she placed her palm on. Underneath, a red light glowed. Quietly, the doors slid back shut. On the other side of the chamber, two small orange arrows, one up and one down, glowed. Tod looked at Colin. He nodded confidently. Tod slammed the orange arrow pointing up and closed her eyes.

The chamber lurched. Colin's stomach felt like it was in his feet as he felt the chamber rising. The orange arrow rosw on the wall until it got to the top. Everything was suddenly still and with a light _ding_ the door to the moving chamber slid open.


	13. Chapter 12—The Magykal Mark

Colin had to squint. The air was filled with an orange haze. Dark smoke drifted through the air as they listened. In front of them a huge chant was being spoken, echoing in the cavern. The children couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but Colin guessed they were up to no good. A parting in the smoky air revealed an unpalatable sight. Colin shuddered at what he saw.

Hanging from a platform was a rusty metal cage. The platform was connected to stairs that led into the crowd of people. The cage was hung over the steaming lava, it's heat floating through the cavern. But what frightened Colin was the thing in the cage—Septimus Heap.

The cavern was wide with a platform made of stone that went in a half circle around the pit. The lava boiled below, waiting for its prey to fall.

Colin glanced at Eliza. He saw her take a deep breath in, getting ready to scream, but Colin git to her first. He wrapped his hand around her mouth and dragged her behind a rocky hump in the stone platform. Tod, Kloud, and Marston followed. From behind the rock, they could see clearly through the smoke. The terrible man from the Knight, the Captain, stood on a raised platform. He looked over the crowd of various people. All were completely different, just like on the Knight.

The Captain waved his hand and immediately the chant stopped. Everyone looked up to the Captain. "Later this morning we will all leave for the Castle. You all will be arriving on ship—the Ancient Ways are too fragile for this amount of people. In only one hour, the sun will rise, and we will depart." The Captain stepped off his platform and walked onto the one the cage was hanging from, over the lava. Ignoring his captive, the Captain continued, "But first we must get rid of him!" He pointed angrily down at Septimus.

Everyone in the volcano cheered. The Captain smiled an evil grin as he looked down at the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. The people yelled "Throw him in!" and "Down with the Castle!"

Before anyone could stop her, Tod ran out from behind their hiding place. "No! Stop!" she screamed. Tod, realizing what she had done, clapped her hand over her mouth. Hundreds of eyes turned to Tod. The Captain let out a high cackle as he looked down at Tod.

"Alice TodHunter Moon. The ExtraOrdinary Wizard Apprentice. I was hoping you would be here. Guards!" The Captain swiftly moved his hand through the air and immediately a man and a woman in heavy armor, carrying spears, grabbed Tod's elbows. She screamed and kicked, but they held on tightly.

A sudden movement in the corner of the Captain's eye caught him off guard. In the shadows, he saw a few children huddled behind a rock. He didn't think that the Apprentice had brought friends. "Don't forget her friends, too!" he told more guards. The guards hurried over and grabbed Marston, Eliza, and Kloud the same way they were holding Tod.

But they hadn't noticed Colin slipping back into the shadows near the edge of the stone platform. A large rock hung over Colin, obscuring him from the Captain's view.

The Captain looked at the children he had caught. Smiling nastily, excited that his plan was working, he waved his hand. Tod watched in horror as the Projection of Septimus Heap disappeared in the cage. It had all been a trick. Now her friends were going to pay for her stupid mistake.

Down the mountain, in the Hub, Septimus, Marcia, and Milo walked out of the Way the children had just come through a little while before.

"The Trail stops here. It leads up the stairs. We have to hurry, we only have a few more minutes until it wares away, then we'll never know where Tod is," said Marcia. They had stopped in a small Hub right after they escaped the Captain. They gave it a few hours rest, then they were off again.

"Do you think Colin will be with her? And the others?" Milo asked, wearily. He was still confused from the Magyk that had been put on him. He looked around. "Marcia, we're back in your Hub. . ."

"No, Milo. It just looks very similar. Hurry now, we must find them." Marcia ran up the stairs into the next room. Milo looked at Septimus. Septimus shrugged and followed Marcia. Milo, wondering why Marcia could never do anything normal, followed Septimus.

He found Marcia already outside the building. Gingerly closing the door, Milo made sure to be quiet. He may not know what Marcia was doing, but he did know when she was serious.

The trio walked up the hill to the cliff face. Faster than the children, Septimus found the moving chamber and looked uncertainly at it. The last time he'd used one of these it hadn't gone so well. It had broken down and the scariest thing was Magyk didn't work in the moving chamber.

He looked at Marcia and she said, "The Trail is gone. We must hurry." Septimus opened the moving chamber doors and they stepped inside.

Above, Tod held down a scream. She looked over at her friends and suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. Colin hadn't been caught. They still had a chance. Soon, her hopefulness was replaced by fear as the Captain said, "Alice TodHunter Moon."

Tod looked up at him. Suddenly her fear turned into anger. Who did this man think he was? she thought. He had no right to attack the Castle. She responded with an angry, "What do you want?"

"Ah, I see you have some spirit. Now, you have to be gotten rid of. We don't want you interfering as we go to the Castle, do we?" The Captain laughed. He pulled out something from his belt and held it tightly. Activating the Charm, he said, "I hope you've been good to your friends. This is the last you'll see of them. You will soon obey me." Muttering under his breath, he cast his hand out in the direction of Tod. Red sparks flew from his hand.

In the crowd, a few people were knocked backwards, falling onto the platform. Colin came racing out of the crowd. He ran up to Tod and, shoving her out of the way, the red sparks hit him square in the chest, making him topple over onto Tod. The guards let go of the children. The Captain looked down at the commotion and cursed.

Colin lay on the ground, stock still. Eliza and Marston rushed to him, but Tod stayed back, holding Kloud. Even though Colin was silent, he wanted to scream. He could feel the Darkness spreading through him, but he could even talk.

The Captain smiled to himself. Maybe this wasn't turning out to be that bad. Soon, the boy would get up and he would be under the Captain's bidding. He had thrown a Darke Control at him.

"You have no ExtraOrdinary Wizard to save you now, Apprentice!" exclaimed the Captain loudly so everyone could hear.

"On the contrary," said a voice from behind a cloud of smoke."The ExtraOrdinary Wizard is here." Septimus Heap stepped out from the smoke, parting it. Behind him was the Ex-ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand. Beside her was her husband Milo Banda.

Tod smiled with relief. Now, hopefully, everything would go back to normal.

"How did you—where did. . ." the Captain stuttered. He wasn't expecting two very powerful Wizards (and what seemed to be their stupid servant) to appear.

"Marcia. Go to Colin. Milo, stay here," said Septimus. He began walking towards the Captain. The crowd of reinforcements parted in his wake, all terrified that the great purple man would strike them down.

"Captain. I don't think I'm going to just allow you into my Castle. I will if you do not do what everyone here is presuming you will do," said Septimus with an aura of power.

"And just what would that be?" the Captain retorted.

"What would what be?" asked Septimus.

"What everyone presumes me to do?"

Septimus looked at the Captain. "Oh. Attacking the Castle. . ."

"Oh, right. Yes, of course. I knew that, you needn't remind me of my own plan," said the Captain awkwardly.

"Well, you're not doing it," said Septimus, hoping to stall so Marcia could save Colin.

"That is precisely what I'm about to do. Any minute now, my reinforcements will be going down to the boathouse. They'll be setting sail for the Castle and you won't stop us," said the Captain confidently.

"Yes, why is that, then?"

"Because you'll be dead. So will the woman, the servant, and the children."

Septimus was about to ask what the Captain meant by "the servant" But suddenly behind him Colin sat up, taking a huge breath in. He fell over in a fit of coughs. Everyone watched as a black mist rolled out of his mouth with every cough.

Septimus turned back to the Captain. He was now close enough to see the dried blood on Septimus's robes. "Close encounter?"

Septimus glared at the Captain. He had no reason to be stalling now. "I suggest that you call off your ambush, or face the consequences. If you do, you and your reinforcements will be free," Septimus lied. He couldn't let this man go free. He had almost killed Colin. But Septimus had to try to persuade him. Usually, Septimus thought, freedom works.

But the Captain was not that clueless. He saw the glint in Septimus's eyes and said, "You expect me to believe that the whole Castle will want me to be free?" The Captain turned to the crowd. "See him? He's lying. Guards! Grab him!"

No one moved. To the crowd, freedom sounded pretty good. They hadn't even volunteered for this. The Captain had forced most of them to do it. "Grab him! Do you not hear me? Grab him!"

Still, no one moved. "It seems, Captain, that your reinforcements are no longer loyal. You will surrender now," Septimus said. Behind him, Colin had finally coughed up the last of the Darkness. Colin sat up and looked at Septimus. Everything was blurry, but he could just make out the Captain standing in the ledge. He shouted something and suddenly a low rumble came from within the volcano. It grew louder and louder until rocks began to fall. Suddenly, a huge hole was formed from falling debris in the side of the volcano. The first rays of sunshine of the early morning sun glowed into the volcano, illuminating everything.

Immediately Colin realized what the Captain was about to do. With all the blurriness gone, Colin leapt up. He watched as the Captain ran towards the hole. Shouts from everywhere echoed around Colin. Acting fast, Colin ran to the Captain and grabbed him by the ankle. Colin didn't get a good hold on him and he slipped away, but not before he had tripped down the mountainside. As the Captain tumbled down Colin yelled to Tod. She understood and opened the moving chamber doors. Marston ran into it with Colin before anyone else could get in.

Pressing the orange arrow pointing down, Colin practically hopped from one foot from the other in anticipation. Colin looked down at his right arm. On his wrist, where he held up his arm to block the Darke Control was a mark. The mark was a half circle with an "x" in it. It was a Magykal Mark. Incredibly slower than Colin would gave preferred, the moving chamber went down to the ground.

In a few minutes time the doors opened with a ding and the two boys ran out into the sunlight, blinking. Down the hill in the building they saw the edge of the Captain's cloak dissappear through the door. Running as fast as they could, they chased him into the building. Bolting into the Hub, Colin was down the stairs first. Just as his boots hit the floor, he saw the bright glow of someone disappearing through the Vanishing Point in one of the Ways.

Marston looked at Colin. "Should we follow? He said he was going to the Castle. He still had some people there."

Colin nodded. "If he's still attacking the Castle, we have to stop him." Colin went first into the Way, followed by Marston. The silver bubble enveloped them as they disappeared into the Vanishing Point.


End file.
